Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the City of Columbus, through the Office of the Mayor, to accept two private grants from Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, Inc. (CFE Fund) in the amount of $20,000.00 and up to $40,000.00, to execute the Memorandum of Understanding (grant agreement) for both grants, and to authorize the appropriation of funds for each grant upon receipt of the funds.
In 2019, the Office of the Mayor, through the Columbus Women’s Commission, and Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown, together launched an effort dedicated to supporting the financial empowerment of women and families in Columbus. The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) awarded a planning grant in 2019 to support the City’s creation of a Financial Empowerment Roadmap, which identified the future work to be undertaken by the City. In 2020, with additional support from the CFE Fund and federal CARES Act funds, the City began its implementation of the Roadmap with the launch of the Financial Navigator program that helps families financially challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic access needed resources with the support of trained financial navigators.
In March 2021, the City of Columbus and CFE Fund announced their selection to receive more than two years of funding and technical support to implement proven financial empowerment programming in Columbus. In 2021, Columbus will receive support to develop a plan for investing in free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a public service to residents, particularly of need as they deal with the financial impacts of COVID-19. Columbus is one of 35 local governments across the country that are working with the CFE Fund to offer this proven model developed initially by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in New York City in 2008.
The $20,000.00 grant award is made available through January 30, 2022, and the funds granted will be used to draft an implementation plan to launch a Financial E...
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