After taking a seat on the Common Council in 2018, Latoya Allen had to figure out how to make her $21,000 a year salary work for her family of three. She visited Syracuse’s Financial Empowerment Center, where she received free financial counseling so she could budget and eventually purchase a house.
"If I would have never went to the financial environment center, I probably will be still renting. Like I'm being completely honest," Allen said.
She now oversees the Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center as the Deputy Director of Home Headquarters.
Engaging with personal finance can be daunting for anyone. For many Black Americans, discriminatory practices and historic exclusion from traditional financial institutionsmake it even more difficult. The FEC is helping to make financial services more accessible to Syracuse’s Black community.
Allen says a majority of their clients are Black, and they often haven’t engaged with financial services before coming to the FEC.
"Up until the Financial Empowerment Center within the City of Syracuse, you got to think about it, those 60% have been left out of like the financial in the banking industry because they didn't have anywhere else to go," Allen said.
Allen added that about 70% of their Black clients were unbanked or underbanked before coming to the FEC, meaning they did not have a safe or affordable bank account. Allen said that statistic shows that the banking system is not always welcoming or accessible for Black people.
The FEC tries to counteract some of the confusion and rigidity of traditional financial institutions by having a diverse set of counselors, non-traditional hours, and flexible meeting locations. Allen said it's important that everyone has a chance to be financially stable becauseit impacts the entire community.
"This financial stability of the family is so important because whatever is going on in that household is going to trickle out onto that street. It trickles out onto that street. It trickles out and bleeds out into the neighborhood," Allen said.
Allen said providing financial assistance is not a fix-all solution for the problems the city faces. However, she believes it is imperative to address to move the community forward.
"Not one thing saves the whole entire city. But this can just be a little piece that can provide something for the city of Syracuse that can help people do better and be better," Allen said.
Allen said they plan to be out in the community more in 2023. They’re also looking to add another counselor to their staff to help bring down wait times.
