iStock_000005717962XSmallPeople achieve financial stability

Bold Goal: Reduce by 20% the number of households in Franklin County living below an income level that allows them to meet basic needs.

Strategies

  • Support job attainment with a livable wage and benefits
  • Support job attainment and skill development for “hard to employ” populations
  • Enhance access to Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and free tax prep services for income eligible persons
  • Enhance financial health by developing money management and debt reduction skills
  • Enhance financial health by increasing household savings and assets
  • Enhance financial health by accessing public and private benefits

 

Programs

Alvis House         
Specialized Employment Assistance to Strengthen Individuals & Families
The goal of this program is to provide assessment, training, support services and linkages, job placement and retention support that will enable program participants to obtain employment of the highest quality within the shortest time period.

Central Community House           
Financial Fresh Start
The Financial Fresh Start Program assesses each participant's financial needs and circumstances to identify barriers regarding budgeting, spending, reducing debt and saving. Staff helps participants create a personalized financial plan and then link them to a volunteer wealth coach who will provide resources and ongoing support.

Columbus Literacy Council          
Adult Literacy - Skills Targeting Employment Preparation
This program teaches basic literacy skills to individuals that need to learn or improve their language ability. The program provides the foundational support, assessment and basic academic training to help remove barriers and prepare the client to engage in workforce development training.

Columbus Speech & Hearing Center       
Jobs for Hard to Employ Populations
The Columbus Speech & Hearing Center's Comprehensive Program for the Deaf provides vocational services to adults who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or have other disabilities.

Columbus Urban League                
Future Leaders Infiltrating Greater Heights Through Training
This job readiness training program, consists of soft skills training, financial literacy and basic computer literacy that assist unemployed individuals, particularly women leaving public assistance and others experiencing significant barriers to employment, make a successful transition to work, GED classes, short-term occupational training, and/or post-secondary education.

Community Properties Impact Corporation         
CPIC Employment Program
This low-income housing preservation project involves seven urban Columbus neighborhoods and more than 1,000 apartments, occupied primarily by single women with children and very low household income.  This organization partners with Greenleaf Job Training Services to help residents who want to work but have significant barriers to finding and maintaining employment.

Community Shelter Board            
Benefits Partnership
This program improves financial stability for low income individuals and families by removing barriers experienced in accessing Social Security Administration programs and other benefits.  By strengthening collaborations between existing community resources, the program will support the development of a stable source of resources for low income clients.

Consumer Credit Counseling Services of the Midwest    
Community Financial Education
This program seeks to increase the financial literacy skills of primarily low-to-moderate-income area residents through positive, interactive workshops and classes covering a variety of personal finance topics. Topics cover basic financial literacy skills and concepts plus the addition of timely information as needed.

Comprehensive Financial Counseling
Comprehensive financial counseling provides a free, confidential, one-on-one educational session lasting 60 - 90 minutes with a certified credit counselor, either in-person or by telephone. Counselors review the personal financial situation in detail with clients who generally present burdensome-debt or insufficient-income problems, helping them to identify options and develop a written plan of action.

Center of Vocational Alternatives (COVA)             
Ex-Offender Peer Employment Program
The COVA Ex-Offender Peer Employment Program, staffed with peers and professionals, will train ex-offenders with mental illness for employment as Forensic Peer Specialists, a paraprofessional career.

Economic & Community Development Institute                
Individual Development Accounts
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are matched savings accounts that enable low-income American families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream. IDAs reward the monthly savings of working-poor families who are building towards purchasing an asset - most commonly buying their first home, paying for post-secondary education, or starting a small business.

Godman Guild Association           
Transitions
This program seeks to encourage GED and High School graduates to pursue post-secondary education and career training. The program will provide intense academic preparation, barrier reduction services, and employment services to transition adults through educational pathways that lead to jobs earning livable wages in 16-28 months.

Workforce Development
This  Workforce Development program is designed to equip the hard to employ to (1) improve their basic literacy education and/or earn a GED and (2) gain and retain employment. Service components include: career coaching, an open computer lab, GED/ABLE classes, GED practice testing, computer classes, job readiness classes, job placement, job development, hiring events, and job retention support.

Goodwill Columbus
State Tested Nurses Aid
This Nurse Aide Training & Competency Evaluation Program prepares and tests trainees to qualify as State Tested Nurse Aides.

Project Opportunity
Project Opportunity provides work-readiness activities and on-the-job training for junior and senior high school students who have learning or severe emotional disabilities. The goal is for youth to be hired by Giant Eagle stores or another retail establishment upon successful program completion.

Supported Living/Workforce Development
The purpose of the Supported Living/Workforce Development Program is to provide the full range of vocational rehabilitation services offered by Goodwill’s Workforce Development division to adults 18+ with mild developmental disabilities living in Franklin County.

Workforce Development
The program provides vocational rehabilitation services to assist individuals with disabilities and other barriers to obtain employment.  Services include career assessment, vocational exploration, occupational skills training, in-house and community-based transitional work experiences, case management, job placement, and job coaching/job retention.

Homes on the Hill CDC  
Pre-purchase Homeownership Counseling
The pre-purchase homeownership counseling program includes long-term pre-purchase financial/credit/homeownership counseling, loan product comparisons & origination.  These services help individuals select the home purchase price range that fits their budget and the mortgage loan that is the most advantageous to them.

Jewish Community Center           
English Speakers of Other Languages
The English for Speakers of Other Languages classes are designed to provide services to refugees and immigrants from all over the world including Ukraine, Russia, Haiti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iran, Italy, Spain, Columbia and many others. These classes include Listening/Speaking and Reading/ Writing Components.

Jewish Family Services  
Making Opportunities through Resources & Employment
The overall goal of this program is to assist people to achieve financial stability.  This program is designed to help participants obtain and maintain employment at a wage that moves them toward self-sufficiency.

Legal Aid Society of Columbus   
Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
This program meets the needs of low-income taxpayers involved in tax controversies through case representation, case consultation, community educational presentations, and participation in collaborative efforts like the Franklin County Earned Income Tax Coalition.

Lutheran Social Services                
Ohio Benefit Bank
The Ohio Benefit Bank provides web-based counselor assisted help to connect low income Ohioans with the work supports they need to attain self-sufficiency.  Households seeking hunger relief will be linked to the Ohio Benefit Bank to screen for eligibility to receive tax credits and important public benefits that can move them towards self-sufficiency.

Salvation Army 
Career Enhancement Center
The Career Enhancement Center provides comprehensive career advancement strategies, including career development, career coaching, skill development and linkage to education and employment, to low income and hard to employ residents of Franklin County.

Vision & Vocational Services      
Vision Rehabilitation Services
The Vision Rehabilitation Services program provides comprehensive, individualized services for people who are blind or have low vision that will help to increase their employability and ultimately help them to become financially stable.

YMCA of Central Ohio   
Benefit Services Initiative
The Benefit Services Initiative works to link individuals to public and private benefits that will provide men and women with income, insurance and supports and help achieve self-sufficiency.