Last week, Neighborhood Allies offered two opportunities for local case managers and employment coaches to receive training on how to have the money conversation with their existing clients.
Over 35 case managers representing 18 nonprofits were trained by Linda Kuster, (the former Economic Empowerment Coordinator at Allegheny County DHS), over two days, using the Your Money, Your Goals toolkit 
developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to build their knowledge and confidence to tackle money issues that might be holding back their clients from reaching their financial goals.
Participants spent the day learning new and practical skills to help their clients get beyond immediate basic needs and even role played real life scenarios where they could put new knowledge and skills to the test–like how to make decisions about repaying debts and taking on new debt and ways to avoid tricks and traps when choosing financial products.
Since last year, Neighborhood Allies has provided this training to 60 people from 24 organizations. The topics included: how values affect money choices; assessing financial situation; setting goals; saving for emergencies; paying bills; dealing with debt; understanding credit. Each of training sessions has been extremely valuable to participants, as captured in this feedback:
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“I think all of them [the tools] will be useful for different circumstances.”
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“The book is filled with great resources that I plan to utilize ASAP!”
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“All of the modules will be of use for different participants at different times.”
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“Great class!”
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“Thank you for a useful day!”
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“[The most helpful tools were the] tools that customers can complete themselves so they can realize what they need to do.”
We will continue these training opportunities on Wednesday, February 8th with a session on credit as an asset for folks who want to get deeper in the credit topic. For more information, visit our website.
