LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Good news for those looking to gain financial literacy—the Financial Empowerment Center (F.E.C.) officially opened offices in the Reo School today.
Mayor Schor was there to cut the ribbon, symbolizing the opening of the F.E.C.’s newly acquired space. The offices will be used for financial counseling sessions, which will now be run by state-employed counselors, as the F.E.C. is now run by the Lansing Office of Financial Empowerment (O.F.E.)
Amber Paxton, the Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment says the goal is to make dreams come true.
“We sit down with them and we learn about their financial hopes and dreams and goals, and we work with them to achieve them,” Paxton said.
The results show financial dreams do come true. Since the F.E.C. originally opened in 2013, they have held more than 16 thousand counseling sessions, decreased non-mortgage debt by almost 14$ million and helped clients save 1.2$ million.
And these numbers aren’t just numbers, they’re real people benefitting in real ways.
“We had a woman in her 80s that was coming to see us for several months, and she had never been on a vacation and she had never owned a washer or dryer… and after working with our counselors for a year… she had bought a washer and dryer and gone on vacation,” Paxton said.
It was a happy environment with lots of smiles today, as the F.E.C. and O.F.E. teams are excited about these next steps.
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