Common Cents

In these trying times people are searching for ways to better deal with their circumstances.  The church has always played an important role for those in need, and in Memphis there is one church that is uniquely meeting its congregation at their point of need.  Through financial literacy and education, Faith Christian Church is working with the RISE Foundation to make faith matter.

Church leaders identified financial literacy as an effort that the entire congregation could work on as a church body.  RISE conducted a Common Cents series in December 2019 and February 2020 for parishioners seeking to improve their knowledge of budgeting and how to teach credit to their families.

Everyone in attendance, including staff, were appreciative in learning how to better budget their finances, fill in money gaps, and how to recognize and change poor spending habits.

The series was facilitated by RISE on Saturday mornings and assignments were given.  The interactive series utilized in class and family-oriented assignments that sparked discussion and active participation.  Topics included banking, budgeting, debt management and spending strategies.  At the conclusion of the series participants surveyed responded that they had a better understanding of debt, how to improve their credit scores and how to increase their savings.

If you are interested in giving the gift of financial freedom to your organization, business or civic group contact RISE today for a free consultation at risememphis.org

The RISE Foundation was fortunate to participate in several community fairs during the months of September, October and November to raise the bar on credit awareness and financial education for citizens of Memphis and Shelby County. Our Common Cents Program at RISE is effective for group discussions centered around financial wellness and can be integrated into workplace settings, seminars, workshops or community fairs.

Greater Memphis Housing Fair and House Then The Car (HTTC) were just two events that brought out the serious, and determined in our community who were ready to jumpstart their journey to better credit scores and financial self-sufficiency.

RISE worked in conjunction with other non-profits and community partners to assist Deutsche Bank with the Greater Memphis Housing Fair to provide participants with free credit report analysis. Event attendees were also able to set appointments with certified financial counselors for free one-on-one sessions through the RISE Greater Memphis Financial Empowerment Center (GMFEC).

In addition to the housing fair, RISE participated in the National Association of Real Estate Brokers current initiative on rebuilding inner city neighborhoods through homeownership and millennial investment. The HTTC campaign event featured RISE President/CEO and GMFEC Operating Manager as panelists for a discussion on dispelling the myths on repairing credit, budgeting for homeownership, and sustaining homeownership.

Your support of programs like Common Sense ensure that RISE continues to be able to bring awareness of financial education and literacy to businesses and organizations in a group format for both large and small entities.

The Greater Memphis Financial Empowerment Center/GMFEC is an exciting collaboration between the RISE Foundation, Shelby County Government and the Women’s Foundation For A Greater Memphis that provides free, one-on-one counseling by certified financial counselors to citizens of Memphis and Shelby County.

GMFEC will function as a financial empowerment center created by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund/CFE that promotes government initiated financial education services to local communities.  GMFEC services will be provided in the Crane Building in downtown Memphis, as well as through co-locations with other City services and nonprofit organizations. 

In addition to offering professional, one-on-one financial counseling and coaching as a free public service to all local residents, the GMFEC professionally trained counselors help individuals and families manage their finances, pay down debt, increase savings, establish and build credit, and access safe and affordable mainstream banking products. At the core of the FEC model is the integration of counseling into other social services, including housing and foreclosure prevention, workforce development, prisoner reentry, benefits access, domestic violence services, legal services, and more.

The GMFEC operates on a hub and spoke model. The hub location is in the Crane Building at 254 Court Ave., Suite 100. The “spokes” or co-locations currently include Memphis Housing Authority, the Shelby County Office of Reentry, specific branch locations of Pinnacle Bank and Simmons Bank, the Tiger Banking Center on the University of Memphis campus, and the RISE Foundation offices with more being added. Community Referral partners currently include Catholic Charities, MIFA, America’s Job Centers, United Way of the Mid-South, Latino Memphis, Shelby County Community Services Agency and MLGW. The GMFEC aims to be able to meet clients where they are, both physically and financially. Visit our website, www.gmfec.org for more information. To make an appointment, call (901) 390-4200.

The RISE Foundation is the non-profit service provider who oversees the counselors and the day to day running of the GMFEC. The GMFEC is a sponsored program of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis. The Assisi Foundation, MLGW, the Shelby County Assessor’s Office, the Shelby County Mayor, the City of Memphis, and the United Way of the Mid-South have provided grant funding and/or in-kind support. 

Your support of Common Cents programs like the GMFEC is essential to assisting ALL residents of Shelby County in managing their financial wellness and making our city greater in terms of higher credit ratings, lower foreclosure rates and ensuring that taxpayers are better informed and engaged.    

The RISE Foundation took their Common Cents program to the East Memphis community on April 10th to help Paragon Bank celebrate National Financial Literacy Week.  Participants were highly engaged and shared many of their reservations and misgivings that they have with starting and keeping a budget going in their households.  

Paragon Bank collaborates with charitable partners and local organizations to bring together financial education resources that communities can discourse with and link up to. These services offer assistance to help reduce debt, increase credit worthiness and lessen financial fatigue.  

RISE facilitated discussions on the basics of Financial Literacy and the benefits of the Save Up program.  Attendees learned of the many ways that Save Up could assist them in building assets such as Home Ownership, Micro Enterprise Development, Computer Systems and Secondary Education.  

Throughout the session topics such as spending plan development, and how often spending plans are created where analyzed.  The RISE Foundation has played a pivotal role as partner in the community with many banks, including Paragon Bank.  Paragon Bank has been so excited to send potential customers to RISE to obtain group and one on one counseling in reference to Saving and Budgeting. 

This seminar was a big success for all that came.  There were many comments made about the trainer Ms. Terrell, most notably “that she was not just engaging but very thorough and informative.”  Paragon looks forward to continuing to do seminars like this for the Memphis community as well as for employees of Paragon.    

Residents of Memphis are clear about one thing, they CAN make a difference in thier lives financially if given the opportunities and resources to do so.  Three classes into the On-Track series reveals that our communities can be improved dramatically with financial literacy and education.  The workshops given cover the topics of creating and maintaining a spending plan and managing credit. 

Memphis Light Gas and Water On-Track classes facilitated by RISE have been very successful at assisting customers with stimulating learning techniques and relevant financial education skills. Class participants are engaged and full of questions about how credit is established, accumulated and analyzed.  As with so many groups like these, RISE is pleased to be able to help participants with their desires to better understand how to manage the money that comes into their households. 

RISE is proud of the attendance and positive reception that this collaboration has generated.  Each class session has increased by 10 percent since inception.  Residents who take advantage of the On-Track series are committed to making big changes in thier finances.  In most cases they live in some of the poorest areas of the city.  Almost two-thirds live at or below the poverty line – including a third who scrape by at 50% of the poverty level (less than $12,000 a year for a family of four). More than half are battaling under-employement, while less than half have graduated high school. 

Collaborating with the RISE Foundation was the perfect fit for MLGW because the Common Cents curriculum is designed to meet people where they currently are in their financial struggle. Common Cents is uniquely effective by providing participants with valuable information that enables them to better manage their financial resources and make better financial choices in an environment that is nurturing, peer-guided and inclusive.  

Memphis is proud of the work that MLGW is doing to overcome poverty in our communities. With the help of more companies just like them, the RISE Foundation will be able to introduce more families to the principles of utilizing a spending plan and designing budgets that work through the tough times smarter.