Title
Report regarding a resolution accepting a grant of $20,000 from Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to Develop a Financial Empowerment Center Plan, authorizing the City Manager to execute a Memorandum of Understanding, and approving Budget Amendment No. 25.048 (Michael Guss, Economic Development Specialist and Alvina Condon, Management Analyst II)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution accepting a $20,000 grant from Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to develop a Financial Empowerment Center Plan, authorizing the City Manager to execute a Memorandum of Understanding and approving Budget Amendment No. 25.048.
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BACKGROUND
Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund is a nonprofit organization that funds grants to cities to support financial empowerment and economic mobility programming. Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund is primarily funded by philanthropic foundations and major financial institutions.
Financial empowerment supports financial literacy and skills to provide resources to residents and community members in understanding financial concepts, such as budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt, which can lead to greater control over personal finances and the ability to achieve financial goals. Overall, financial empowerment enables individuals to make strategic financial choices that improve their economic stability and quality of life.
The City began working with Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund through the Advancing Economic Mobility Rapid Grant from the National League of Cities (NLC) that the City Council accepted in August of 2024. The grant program supported the expansion of the Promotores Program to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community through several outreach events.
Staff met with Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE) staff on a biweekly basis last Fall. At the conclusion of this process, staff submitted a Phase I Milestone application, which was approved by Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. Approval of the Phase I Milestone comes with a $20,000 grant to support a planning effort that will determine whether a Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) in South San Francisco is feasible, and if so, establish an implementation plan. Staff anticipates that, should an FEC be found feasible and implemented, that it would be located within the City’s existing Economic Advancement Center.
Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund makes grants to FECs throughout the United States. The FEC model was established in the City of New York during the administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. FECs provide one-on-one financial counseling at no cost to any resident who expresses interest in receiving services. The one-on-one financial counseling includes assisting individuals with establishing bank accounts as well as working with clients to reduce debt, establish or increase credit, and create savings plans. The financial counseling focuses on client goals, which can include purchasing housing or obtaining an education. FECs also provide referrals to other organizations that can assist with economic mobility, including enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs, Medi-CAL (Medicaid), small business counseling organizations, and workforce development agencies.
The $20,000 grant funds a planning process that is expected to conclude no later than January 2026. Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund assigns a dedicated Technical Assistance Lead to support City staff with developing an FEC plan. The Technical Assistance Lead will assist the City with identifying service providers that could provide financial empowerment services, fundraising to sustain the FEC, and developing policies and procedures. The fundraising assistance includes identifying State, federal, and private, including foundation and Community Reinvestment Act funding sources that can sustain financial empowerment programming.
During the planning process, CFE staff will conduct a site visit where they meet with potential service providers, community members, City staff, and elected officials. This site visit is tentatively scheduled for early June.
If an FEC is found to be feasible, the City could apply for $150,000 in implementation funding from CFE upon the conclusion of the planning process. In addition to funding from CFE, other FECs receive a mix of Community Reinvestment Act funding, federal funding, state funding and County funding. Staff anticipates that, should a FEC come to fruition in South San Francisco, that a South San Francisco FEC could have a similar mix of funding streams.
DISCUSSION
Some of the services that would be provided by an FEC are currently offered by existing service provider contracts within the EAC. Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center (Renaissance) provides financial counseling to entrepreneurs; however, this counseling is limited to starting a business or seeking financing to expand an existing business. JobTrain, provides limited counseling as it relates to improving credit scores; however, this counseling is focused on assisting individuals with meeting background check requirements to work in fields that require background checks, such as jobs that require handling cash or jobs at the San Francisco International Airport.
If an FEC is found to be feasible and established, staff would work with existing nonprofit contractors to ensure that there is no duplication of services.
The model of requiring all individuals, regardless of income, who seek financial counseling services to be served by the program would slightly change the focus of the City’s economic mobility programming. However, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund found that 70% of clients of FEC had incomes below 50% of their area’s Median Household Income.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no net fiscal impact to the General Fund by accepting the grant funds and approving the Budget Amendment Number 25.048 appropriation.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the resolution accepting a $20,000 grant from Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to develop a FEC Plan, authorizing the City Manager to execute a Memorandum of Understanding and approving Budget Amendment Number 25.048.
The planning process and technical assistance offered by this grant can help identify funding sources that fund services that will be beneficial to South San Francisco residents and community members. A Financial Empowerment Center has the potential to adapt the City’s economic mobility programming to a changing external environment and can provide a potential sustainability model to continue programming at the Economic Advancement Center.