The Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center is a City of Syracuse Mayoral Initiative providing free financial counseling to residents of the Greater Syracuse Area.
The Pandemic hit the Syracuse FEC in the same way it hit many other local businesses and efforts. In person meetings came to a halt, counseling staff meetings and trainings tapered off and many CNY residents had bigger things to think about than saving a little extra each week.
The Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center is back at everything and working hard to make up for lost ground. We have new counselors, new counseling locations and a new sense of the importance of our role in our community.
The entire Syracuse FEC staff is looking forward to getting out into the community and meeting as many individuals and organizations as we can fit in between counseling sessions. If we haven’t met yet, let’s make it happen!
Almost 550 CNY residents came to the Syracuse FEC looking to improve their financial health. FEC Clients came from every walk of life, some were renters, some homeowners and some were still working towards safe and affordable housing. Syracuse FEC counselors provided more than 1,200 counseling hours to individuals and couples in English, Spanish, Swahili and even Karundi. Just over half of FEC clients made it to at least two, if not more, sessions and most that saw outcomes, reduced delinquent accounts.
Kathleen “Katie” Walpole recently joined Home HeadQuarters as the Director of Program Strategy and Syracuse FEC Manager. Katie joins HHQ most recently from Syracuse University where she was the CNY Humanities Corridor Program Manager. Prior to that, Katie was the lead ARPA analyst for Clark County Nevada. She’s a Groton, NY native and holds a BA from the Maxwell School and an MPA from the London School of Economics.
