CredAbility has a history of reaching the most financially vulnerable people in the communities we serve.

Featured Program: Empowering Women for Financial Success

In 2009, we created “Empowering Women for Financial Success.” This program provides women in crisis with the tools they need to manage their personal finances. It also helps to prepare them to transition into and maintain permanent, stable housing. The pilot program in Atlanta was supported by a grant from the Verizon Foundation, and its expansion was recently supported with a $20,000 grant by The Atlanta Women’s Foundation.  Created specifically to serve women affected by domestic violence, our community partners have asked us to expand the program to serve other women who are at risk and financially vulnerable.
 
The program includes seven hours of in-classroom education and one hour of individualized, one-on-one counseling with a certified CredAbility educator. Women can learn how to set realistic and achievable goals for their lives, create a spending plan and understand their credit reports—plus how to put support systems in place to help them transition on their own. We serve women in domestic violence shelters, supportive housing and battered women support groups. We also work with a variety of community partners to serve financially vulnerable women with other underlying problems, including substance abuse, unemployment or homelessness. Together, we expect to serve 300 women through the program this year.

A participant, Audrey H., says of the program, "Ms. Creamer (a CredAbility financial education specialist) was wonderful. She helped me obtain my credit report and showed me how to dispute errors. She showed care, concern and compassion. She helped me develop a plan for immediate, short and long term financial success. After reviewing my credit report, I was able to identify fraud. Ms. Creamer showed me how to place my credit report on freeze. Following her advice I filed a police report, which tracked the fraud. I was able to get my income tax return, helping me improve my homeless situation.”
 
For more information on The Atlanta Women’s Foundation, please visit http://www.atlantawomen.org/