Attorney General Phil Weiser, Colorado Office of Financial Empowerment announce $3 million in grants to support financial coaching and counseling

Jan. 23, 2024 (DENVER)—Attorney General Phil Weiser today announced that the Colorado Department of Law has awarded $3 million in funding to expand access to free individual financial counseling and coaching services throughout the state. Ten organizations received grants for their work to develop or enhance financial coaching and counseling programs, including through strategies that are designed to provide culturally resonant services to underserved populations.

“These organizations have already done incredible work in their communities,” said Weiser. “With these grants, we will work to advance the groundwork that’s already been done to better Colorado and to help individuals develop better financial health.”

Financial coaching and counseling services help individuals improve their financial capability, address challenges, and achieve financial health and asset-building goals. These strategies are tailored to individuals’ needs and circumstances, are culturally responsive, outcome and data driven, delivered by trained professionals, and can be integrated into a wide array of public service programs.

The initiative stems from the Colorado Office of Financial Empowerment’s statutory mandate to expand access to free individual financial coaching and counseling. The attorney general’s office, where the Office of Financial Empowerment is located, launched the application process in August 2023, receiving 29 applications totaling over $12.6 million in funding requests by the October 3, 2023 deadline. A review committee evaluated the applications and awarded funds to groups seeking to improve personal financial coaching and counseling service delivery as well as to develop partnerships, tools, and resources that expand financial coaching and counseling services statewide.

The Office of Financial Empowerment grants were awarded as follows:

• Benefits in Action, $300,000 – Benefits in Action will implement a Financial Coaching, Counseling and Literacy program to support residents in Southeast Colorado. The program will leverage relationships and current programs serving residents in Baca, Bent, Crowley, Huerfano, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero, Prowers, and Pueblo counties.
• Brothers Redevelopment, Inc., $400,000 – Brothers Redevelopment, Inc., through the Colorado Housing Connects helpline will tackle housing instability in Colorado by expanding financial capability services. CHC will pair financial coaching and counseling services with existing programs that administer funds for rental and mortgage assistance.
• City of Pueblo, $500,000 – This funding will support the implementation of a Financial Empowerment Center as a free public service for Pueblo residents to address their financial challenges, needs, and plan for their futures. The City of Pueblo’s Financial Empowerment Center services are delivered through United Way of Pueblo County.
• Community College of Denver, $165,000 – This project will deepen the impact of existing financial education resources available at the Community College of Denver and the Educational Opportunity Center through the launch of individualized coaching services, the development of digital tools and content to support financial well-being in culturally sensitive ways, and the implementation of peer mentor models that build knowledge for staff and students, including first generation and immigrant learners.
• International Rescue Committee, $500,000 – The International Rescue Committee in Denver will build upon previous successes of its Financial Capability for New Americans program to ensure the needs of refugees, immigrants, and similar populations are met, with special focus on youth and women. The organization will work to support refugees and immigrants in gaining not only the necessary knowledge to manage personal finances and credit, but also the tangible tools and experiential opportunities to ensure they begin their lives in the U.S. on sound financial footing.
• Neighbor to Neighbor, $300,000 – Through this funding, Neighbor to Neighbor will offer free, individualized professional financial coaching services to improve Larimer County residents’ access to sustainable housing and to effectively service the community including survivors of domestic/gender-based violence and first-time college students.
• NeighborWorks Southern Colorado, $85,000 – This financial fitness program addresses community needs by providing a free service to empower low-income and BIPOC families. This funding will support free financial coaching and counseling services to consumers in Southern Colorado.
• NEWSED Community Development Corporation, $200,000 – Through this funding, NEWSED will expand a bilingual financial education counseling program to help more community members in the Denver Metro Area, including low-income individuals and families, affordable housing residents, and Latino households, reach their financial goals.
• Servicios de La Raza, $250,000 – This funding will support Servicios de La Raza in establishing strengths-based financial empowerment services to assist clients in cultivating and obtaining financial independence and longer-term self-sufficiency.
• The Savings Collaborative, $300,000 – Through this funding, the Savings Collaborative will establish a Colorado Financial Coaching Collaborative Initiative to connect Coloradans in low-to-moderate income and marginalized communities to much-needed high-quality financial coaching services.

For more information about future granting opportunities, go to coag.gov/funding-opportunities. To view more information about the Colorado Office of Financial Empowerment, please visit the website.

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