$15,000 Award Will Support Financial Services and Education
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.,) – Feb. 11 2014 – With the recent grand opening of United Way’s RealSense Prosperity Place comes more good news for the financial stability initiative: it is the recipient of a $15,000 grant from State Farm to increase its financial education programs.
In partnership with Family Foundations, the grant will allow RealSense to expand its free financial services for individuals, such as budget development and credit counseling, as well as provide more group educational opportunities, including homebuyer assistance classes and foreclosure prevention workshops. Prosperity Place, the new financial resource center in Springfield, will be the hub of these services.
“We sincerely appreciate State Farm’s commitment to our community,” said Connie Hodges, president of United Way of Northeast Florida. “The organization is truly a good neighbor that is creating better lives for all.”
The entire community benefits when families are empowered to make good financial decisions. Increasing services at Prosperity Place will help more people learn the skills they need to become financially stable.
RealSense works with its evaluation partner, Ulrich Research Services, to track its participants for the long-term and determine the impact of workshops and counseling sessions. Results demonstrate that participants who take action to improve their financial condition, are more likely to pay their bills on time and feel more confident in their ability to manage their finances.
“United Way’s RealSense initiative is a leader in financial education,” said Julie Smith, State Farm Community Specialist. “We look forward to working together to build greater financial stability for Northeast Florida families through the implementation of this grant.”
RealSense currently provides more than 10,000 hours of financial education annually. The State Farm grant will allow them to staff Prosperity Place with more counselors and increase that number this year.
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About RealSense
RealSense, is a coalition of agencies, nonprofits and local businesses, working in partnership to improve the financial stability of Northeast Florida citizens. Since 2003, RealSense brought more than $44 million in EITC federal dollars into the local community. More information can be found at www.RealSensejax.org.
