Common Cents

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.