This article was written for our sponsor, Consumer Education Services Inc.
For nonprofit credit counseling agency Consumer Education Services Inc., financial education is something they are committed to year-round.
The Raleigh-based nonprofit has been lending its financial insights to organizations around the Triangle community for more than two decades, providing financial education programs that promote economic security for North Carolina families.
Tracy East, the director of communication and outreach at CESI, thinks of the organization’s work as “a hidden gem” in the Triangle community. CESI’s outreach team conducts more than 200 classes or workshops for community partners every year, from Wake County to Orange County and everywhere in between.
But many Triangle residents and businesses aren’t aware of the valuable community service CESI provides.
“As long as we’ve been in business, CESI has been providing financial education to the local community,” East said. “We’ve been working in the Triangle community for over 20 years, but we still find that a lot of organizations don’t know who we are and what we’re doing. For us, this is just one way to give back to the community we call home.”
Although CESI’s outreach program may not be widely known in the Triangle, its reach still has the nonprofit teaching a variety of classes to organizations all across the area — from Wake County Public Libraries in Raleigh to the Durham Rescue Mission to Community Home Trust in Chapel Hill — all free of charge.
Kim McNeal, a community educator with CESI, has a diverse professional background. From store managing to diagnostic counseling for juvenile offenders, McNeal represents CESI’s ability to speak to both a wide audience and a variety of financial issues.
“In any given month, I may teach third-graders about the community, government and money, and then stand in front of university employees who are asking for ways to help finances,” McNeal said.
In McNeal’s opinion, one of the biggest strengths of CESI’s outreach program is its adaptability. Whether it’s discussing home buying, loan repayment or how to build better credit, the team teaches about topics that meet participants at their level.
“Right now, for example, a hot topic is student loans. People are kind of feeling helpless, particularly if they’re under a heavy loan burden,” McNeal explained. “We can provide education and resources to help them determine ways they can get their financial situation under control, which includes student loan repayment.”
“Anytime the community is fiscally healthy, it’s like a ripple effect,” she continued. “It doesn’t just stay with that one person, but also touches their household and their community, and even further out — the state. As we embrace financial wellness, it can’t help but have a positive impact on the community.”
Although CESI’s outreach programs are focused on the Triangle area, East would like to see the company expand its efforts across North Carolina, using webinars and other technology to reach people from the mountains to the sea.
CESI has several local partnerships they’re looking forward to serving in the upcoming year. Wake County will be working with CESI to provide financial education courses to its 3,000 employees. Through this partnership, CESI’s outreach team will visit Wake County facilities with high concentrations of employees, leading seminars and workshops on various aspects of financial literacy.
For East, the willingness of organizations to consider outside sources for their employees’ financial concerns is an indication of positive company culture, and she hopes to see more businesses follow the lead of CESI’s past and current community partners.
“When somebody is in the trenches working with their employees, they don’t always have the bandwidth to address concerns that aren’t in their lane,” East explained. “If an organization can bring somebody in to provide education that helps their employees without pulling on staff resources, it’s a tremendous benefit. When an employer offers financial resources to their employees, it conveys that they care enough about you as a person to address your holistic wellness. Providing workshops or education to help employees not just be physically well, but also financially well, is a simple way to invest in your workforce.”
Studies have found that employees who are struggling financially tend to be more distracted in the workplace, losing hours of productivity every day. By addressing these concerns, employers can not only improve the workflow of financially troubled employees, but also boost office morale in the process.
Additionally, while financial issues tend to be taboo, one of the primary goals of CESI’s outreach program is to break down some of the stigmas associated with financial struggles and open up conversations about topics that are often seen to be embarrassing, even in the workplace.
“Often there is shame around issues of finances. Like, ‘I’ve gotten myself into trouble, I should be ashamed,'” East said. “But here’s the thing: financial knowledge is not intuitive. You don’t just know how to manage a budget or how to make sure that your credit is healthy. It’s a learned skill.”
East added, “We would like to break down some of the stigma and misinformation that keeps people feeling like they have to hide their financial past or current financial situation. We would rather say, ‘Let’s work together and fix what’s broken.'”
While CESI’s outreach program already boasts a wide variety of community partners around the Triangle, they’re always looking for ways to expand their network to more organizations and in doing so, encourage people to take control of their financial situations to build a healthy financial future.
This article was written for our sponsor, Consumer Education Services Inc.
