Financial Coaching Program fits Goodwill

 9/1/2017

Catherine Pate, AFC, talks about her work as a financial coach at the program introduction at Goodwill Industries of Tulsa on Thursday.

Working partnerships and program integration were the key themes as Goodwill Industries of Tulsa introduced its Financial Coaching Program at an event Thursday, August 31.

Goodwill has partnered with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to provide free financial coaching services to families in the Tulsa area. Goodwill of Tulsa is one of 60 organizations chosen to host a professional financial coach. Catherine Pate, AFC®, FFC candidate, has been headquartered at Goodwill since mid-June.

“It’s a perfect fit,” Pate said. She also appreciates the collaboration with the Tulsa Area United Way, which initiated the application to be a host site.  

Neil Sunley explains the benefit to individuals of integrating services at the Financial Coaching Program Introduction on Thursday. Sunley is deputy program manager at Armed Forces Services Corporation.

People having access to multiple services in the same place was a plus in the Tulsa application, said Neil Sunley, Deputy Project Manager of Armed Forces Service Corp. The company oversees the CFPB program, including selecting sites. At Goodwill, people coming in for financial coaching can easily connect with Goodwill’s career training programs as well as resources through United Way partner agencies.

“Integrating is the key part,” Sunley said. “That is where the magic happens.”

Goodwill Industries of Tulsa and Goodwill Industries of Arkansas are believed to be the only two Goodwills selected for the program. Cindy Longacre, director of Community Initiatives at Tulsa Area United Way, saw the opportunity to apply in April. She strongly believed Tulsa would be a great candidate.

On Thursday, Longacre shared findings from a recent financial coaching study: Financial counseling services even helped people with low incomes and disproportionately high housing costs to reduce debt, increase savings, obtain credit and improve credit scores.

“Now, who doesn’t want to be a part of that?” she said.

Pate described herself as the navigator for individuals as they follow their road map to their financial goals, values and dreams.

“I’m the voice that keeps people on track,” she said.

Sabrina Ware, director of Goodwill TulsaWORKS Career Academy and Goodwill Job Connection, believed the CFPB program fits naturally into Goodwill’s mission to help people overcome barriers.

“And not being able to take charge of your finances can be a barrier,” Ware said.

 Ware reiterated the financial coaching with Pate was free of charge and available to anyone.  

“Refer, refer, refer,” Longacre told the audience. “We want to keep her busy.”