HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinancial Empowerment BlueprintFEBRUARY 2023
Financial Empowerment
Blueprint
The City of South Bend
Mayor James Mueller
A Message from Mayor James Mueller
South Bend has turned the corner over the last decade,
transforming from a “dying city” into a rising world-class city.
Investment into the ingenuity and hard work of our people
has raised incomes, property values, and resident wealth
holdings, making our city a growing powerhouse and a
model for other Rust Belt cities that have suffered industrial
decline.
The persistent wealth divide in our community has kept
some neighborhoods and their residents from realizing
the full benefits of South Bend’s growth. Building wealth,
increasing access to resources, reducing financial harm, and
ensuring the development of generational wealth are critical
goals toward financial empowerment for our neighbors in
need.
This Financial Empowerment Blueprint reflects the hard
work of our Department of Community Investment, its Engagement and Economic Empowerment
team, and countless other community partners and collaborators. Their success in pulling together
partnerships with financial organizations, local nonprofits, and area leaders demonstrates South
Bend’s community strength and brings us closer to delivering on our commitment to bringing
economic and racial justice to all in South Bend.
With further funding, the proposed actions in this document will be carried out beginning in 2023
and paired with evaluative procedures and further research into ongoing and future initiatives.
I am proud to support these efforts, and I look forward to our administration continuing to work
toward wealth equity and uplifting our Black community.
Sincerely,
James Mueller
Mayor
City of South Bend
February 15, 2023
A Message from Karen L. White, Councilwoman At Large
South Bend’s incredible economic and industrial momentum
in recent years cannot be understated. Since the 50-year
population freefall of 30,000 people after the closing of the
Studebaker plant in the 1960s, our city is growing for the first
time, adding 2,300 residents since 2010.
However, despite South Bend’s strides over the last fifteen
years, massive wealth and income disparity have only widened
between our Black and non-Black communities, as stated in the
2017 Prosperity Now report. While these issues persist in other
areas of our city, starting with the most vulnerable populations
has shown and will continue to unlock resources all South Bend
residents. Housing values in the Kennedy Park and Lasalle Park
neighborhoods dropped by nearly 50% between 2000 and 2020. Unemployment is two times as high
in Kennedy Park and nearly four times as high in Lasalle Park than our city’s average. Fewer people
have four-year degrees in Kennedy Park today than they did in 1960.
The City has been seeking to alleviate the pain of these communities by empowering their residents
through wealth-building strategies. By building upon existing City programs and continuing research
into new initiatives, such as a Financial Empowerment Center, this Blueprint and the actions outlined
in it have great promise to increase the financial security of South Bend’s Black community.
I fully support the actions laid out in this Financial Empowerment Blueprint. I know the City’s efforts
will be a key element in bringing wealth equity to our Black community.
Sincerely,
Karen L. White
Karen L. White, At-large Council Member
Chair of the Residential & Neighborhoods Committee
Dear Community,
Since the beginning of 2022, the South Bend
Financial Empowerment Team worked to
develop the City’s first Financial Empowerment
Blueprint. As a team, we worked to analyze
the historical trends of wealth extraction and
the challenges of wealth accumulation for the
Black community, understand the impacts
of structural racism on wealth building, and
facilitate conversations across the community
to understand how to address these ingrained
and generational issues. To that end, we
acknowledge the past efforts, ongoing wisdom,
and kindness extended by City residents, and
especially by the elders of our community as we
ask, yet again, “what is the problem?”. Our team
has been deliberate about every activity of this
process being a part of a solution. We affirm
the truths shared by the community regarding income levels, access to financing, and home values
in the neighborhoods we studied. The work ahead is focused on wealth building, but also assisting
residents in raising their incomes and connection to financial professionals to assist in navigating these
generational challenges.
This work arose out of not only research, but many personal conversations and stories, a strong Racial
Wealth Data Panel discussion at the Century Center, a Boosts and Blocks visual display at the Civil
Rights Heritage Center, Roundtable conversations with community leaders and experts, and the
collaborative design and conversation around the Undesign the Redline exhibit at the downtown
library. Without your participation in the process, we would not have been able to develop our
community’s Blueprint.
We are already in action around Blueprint initiatives. Our Pathway program administration is growing
the number of employers participating in the program so “the last hired, first fired” narrative spoken
of by Dr. King of Black America is less of the story in South Bend. We are collaborating with our
Venues, Parks, and Art Summer Youth program to join us in alleviating the financial strain young teens
often experience. We know these supports are but a continuation and we genuinely appreciate the
community in allowing us to be part of an equitable future in South Bend.
We will continue our hard work together to make South Bend a community where all residents are
valued, have increased access to resources, and build wealth for themselves and their families.
In Gratitude,
The City of South Bend Financial Empowerment Team
1st Source Bank
360 Development
466 Works
A Logistics
Agape Realty
Bendr
Bright Point
CDFI Friendly
Centier Bank
Cinnaire
Civil Rights Heritage Center
Consuella's Accounting and Tax
Cross Communities
Dismas House
Divine Interventions
Eyedea Studios
Far Northwest
Housing Matters
IMPower Center
Infinite Possibilities LLC
Irish Realty
LACC
Lake City Bank
Lee & Scott
MACOG
Navarre Hospitality Group
Near Northwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
Northwest Bank
Notre Dame Federal Credit Union
Penny Hill Homes
Project Impact
The City of South Bend would like to thank the following
organizations for their expertise and contributions to the
planning of the Financial Empowerment Blueprint:
Property Bros.
REAL Services
SOMA
Soulful Kitchen
South Bend Heritage Foundation, Inc.
Unique Boutique
United Way of St. Joseph County
WorkOne
The City of South Bend would like to thank the following
individuals who were a part of the Undesign the Redline
Community Advisory Group for their contributions to
the Undesign the Redline exhibit:
Stephanie Ball
Blu Casey
Lynn Coleman
Conrad Damien
Pastor Hardy Blake
Bernice Freeman
George Garner
Isaac Hunt
Patrick McGuire
Gil Michel
Gladys Muhammad
Charlotte Pfeifer
Katheryn Redding
Gabrielle Robinson
Brother Sage
Joseph Shabazz
Debra Walker
Rev. Gilbert Washington
Leslinda Wilson
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Table of Contents
Executive Summary � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 1
CityStart Initiative � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �4
Roadmap to Financial Empowerment � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �6
Geographic Data on the Racial Wealth Divide � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8
Community and Stakeholder Engagement � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �14
Initiative Selection and Constituency Groups � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �22
City Role � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �24
Financial Empowerment Action Plan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �26
The Road Ahead � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �28
Short-Term Plan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �30
Mid-Term Plan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �34
Future Work � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �35
CONCLUSION � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �36
Citations � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �38
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Financial Empowerment Blueprint is intended to communicate a strategy to counter the historic socio-
economic disadvantages imposed on the population of Black people residing in the City of South Bend. These
strategic initiatives would develop growth support through workforce development, financial management
supports though the establishment of a Financial Empowerment Center, located in the newly renovated
Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and catalyze a wealth-building economic engine to leverage a multi-
generational investment in the financial empowerment of South Bend’s Black population. To this end, the City
of South Bend applied for and received a grant through the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund’s (CFE
Fund) City Start initiative to plan and craft a comprehensive Blueprint to guide South Bend’s equity initiatives.
Economic, environmental, judicial, and legislative justice initiatives have been interwoven into the social-aid
programs available to South Bend residents for decades. The most recent push began with the Prosperity
Now Report shared in 2017, and in recent years there have been significant victories. One legislative victory of
note was the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program launched in 2021, to set economic inclusion
goals on the City’s approximately $150 million-dollar discretionary budget.
Through this Financial Empowerment Blueprint grant and reviews of previous initiatives, the City officials
analyzed the challenges minority and women-owned businesses experience with staffing, labor in
predominantly Black neighborhoods receiving significantly lower wages, and experiencing significantly
higher unemployment rates during economic downturns. In addition, business value, home value, and
income averages in predominantly Black neighborhoods are less than 50% of averages for the City of South
Bend. Data shows that home values in predominantly Black neighborhoods could be improved through a
large-scale infill housing campaign using neighborhood labor, the introduction of financial products to grow
homeownership, a unified resource hub where all residents feel supported and are supported with the tools
begin the economic revitalization of their neighborhoods.
To support the needed revitalization, the City of South Bend has worked to develop a new Opportunity
Fund for small business grants, grown the City’s revolving loan by $7.7 million dollars, offered a substantial
portion of the Community Block Development Grant Funding to Community Development Corporations with
South Bend roots who build infill housing, and established a Community Development Financial Institution
liaison agency to better connect business owners to effective financial products. To address the wage gap
the City has established workforce development agreements with large employers to increase wages for
workers who complete essential leadership trainings, and has been awarded the CityStart Grant from the
Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE Fund) to establish the framework for community-centered financial
empowerment with a racial wealth equity focus. As the outcomes of the Financial Empowerment Blueprint
mature the City of South Bend will engage with residents to continue infill housing to stabilize at-risk
neighborhoods.
The initiatives outlined in this Blueprint specifically address the financial and wealth-building needs of
youth, workers, asset builders, and seniors to build an equitable future. When implemented, this document
will encourage the enhancement of city services, serve as a guide for the establishment of partnerships to
address financial management support, and call for new programmatic initiatives that can slow and help to
reverse the widening racial wealth gap in South Bend.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
ACTION PLAN
To open opportunity to all in South Bend and Black residents in particular, the City of South Bend will work
to financially empower South Bend residents and grow residents’ ability to build wealth. With a specific
focus on racial wealth equity, the City of South Bend will improve current programming, establish financial
empowerment partnerships, and develop new financial empowerment programs through the following
action plan:
Short-Term Plan: Improvement of Current Programming, Exploration of New
Programming (March 2023 – December 2023)
Enhancement of existing City programs
• Youth Jobs SB
• Pathways
• Efforts to Support Homeownership
Exploration of a Financial Empowerment Center
• One-on-one financial counseling
• Connection to City and partner resources
Mid-Term Plan: Establishment of Financial Empowerment Partnerships (January
2024 – December 2025)
Intent to continue programmatic enhancements
• Additional City programs
Implementation of a Financial Empowerment Center with Community Partnerships
Future Work: Development of New Financial Empowerment Programs (January
2026 – Onward)
Research and Collaboration on a Long-Term Neighborhood Vision for
Homeownership
Expansion of Financial Empowerment Center services
• Continued exploration of ways to enhance financial services and resources
॰ Financial solvency, credit enhancement, and cost-burden reduction support for personal and business needs.
Continued enhancement of City programs through a financial empowerment lens
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 3
CityStart Initiative
CITIES FOR FINANCIAL
EMPOWERMENT FUND:
CITYSTART INITIATIVE
The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) is a national nonprofit organization that works
alongside mayoral administrations to design and implement financial empowerment strategies into local
government infrastructure, primarily targeting low-and moderate-income households. The CFE Fund’s
CityStart initiative is supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, whose mission is
to accelerate the pace of Black wealth accumulation in the U.S., will advise the CFE Fund on the design and
execution of the latest iteration of the CityStart program with a specific lens on racial wealth equity.1
In 2022, the CFE Fund began working with the City of South Bend through the CityStart initiative to develop
a Financial Empowerment Blueprint specifically focusing on racial wealth equity in South Bend. One of the
primary goals of the 2022 CityStart initiative is to address racial wealth equity by prioritizing the financial
stability needs of Black residents.
The CFE Fund helps local governments embed financial empowerment strategies into municipal
infrastructure through four key pillars2:
Dozens of other cities have participated in the CityStart initiative to create a citywide Financial
Empowerment Blueprint. These Blueprints include:
• Columbus, Ohio, which focused on providing financial security for women and families3
• Albuquerque, New Mexico, which focused on creating a BankOn coalition and Summer Jobs Connect
program, among others4
• St� Paul, Minnesota, which focused on establishing a municipal Office of Financial Empowerment5
A review of other cities’ Blueprints showcased how each city crafted financial empowerment initiatives based
on the needs of their residents. South Bend, therefore, must craft this Blueprint with a localized approach
based on the needs of our residents. To discover the unique financial and wealth-building needs of South
Bend’s residents, the City of South Bend:
Performed detailed research on South Bend’s racial wealth divide, specifically in Kennedy and LaSalle Park,
to quantitatively discover the extent of South Bend residents’ financial empowerment and wealth-building
needs.
Continuously engaged with residents and stakeholders throughout the creation of the Blueprint to
qualitatively understand South Bend residents’ financial empowerment and wealth-building needs.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 5
ROADMAP TO FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT
The City’s Financial Empowerment Blueprint is a new document that complements
the programs and initiatives the City has already launched to economically empower
historically disadvantaged residents. The City has recently launched, expanded, or modified
various programs and initiatives that contribute to increasing wealth accumulation and
decreasing wealth extraction for residents. The graphic below provides a list, though not
a comprehensive list, of such City programs or initiatives working to financially empower
South Bend residents in addition to the Financial Empowerment Blueprint.
6 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
GEOGRAPHIC DATA ON THE
RACIAL WEALTH DIVIDE
The Disenfranchisement of South Bend’s Kennedy
and LaSalle Park Neighborhoods
THE DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF SOUTH BEND’S KENNEDY
AND LASALLE PARK NEIGHBORHOODS
Through the Blueprint creation process, the Department of Community Investment contracted the help of
a local non-profit, enFocus, to conduct research on the City’s racial wealth divide. Initial findings provided
from the 2017 Prosperity Now Racial Wealth Divide report6 and the following 2019 Prosperity Now Scorecard7
illustrated that income, wealth holdings, and employment rates were significantly lower for Black South Bend
residents from 2011 to 2017. However, the team sought to uncover more granular trends over a greater period
of time. To this aim, the team pivoted to a geographical-based strategy, focusing on housing, income, and
employment statistics as the best way to observe the racial wealth divide over time in South Bend.
A large portion of South Bend’s Black population is concentrated in two neighborhoods, Kennedy Park and
LaSalle Park, which are statistically observable areas as Census Tracts 21 and 23. Redlining, a racist home loan
practice that started in the 1930s, allowed banks to deny funding or offer inflated interest rates to residents
of neighborhoods based on redlining designations. These designations were on an A-D grading scale, mainly
determined by how many Black residents lived in the neighborhood. On South Bend’s redlining map8, Kennedy
Park and LaSalle Park suffered the most concentrated redlining at the hand of the Home Owners’ Loan
Corporation, receiving primarily “D” designations.
Source: 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Data
NEIGHBORHOOD HOME VALUES
HOME
OWNERSHIP INCOME UNEMPLOYMENT
BLACK
POPULATION
South Bend $88,600 49%$42,697 6%25%
Kennedy Park $38,400 37%$19,511 14%60%
LaSalle Park $29,900 42%$13,369 23%59%
Figure 1: Redlining’s Impact on Kennedy Park and LaSalle Park Neighborhoods
As of 2020, redlining strongly correlates with median home values, indicating that this discriminatory practice
was successful in its aim. The median assessed owner-occupied property value is $38,400 in Kennedy Park
and $29,900 in LaSalle Park: mere fractions of South Bend’s overall median of $88,600 (Figure 1), and an even
smaller fraction of median values in neighborhoods that received primarily “A” or “B” grades in 1933 (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Redlining and Median Owner Occupied House Values
Source: 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Data, University of Richmond Mapping Inequality, U.S. Census Bureau (TIGER/Line Shapefiles)
A
B
C
D
Census Tract Boundary, 2020
Median House Value, 2020
HOLC Redlining Grades (1933)
$
N
0
2,500 5,000
Feet
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 9
From 1960-2020, one can see the same picture of a widening wealth and prosperity gap between Black
and white communities as is seen in home values, painting a historical picture of wronged neighborhoods
that have enjoyed minimal restorative economic justice. While the Northshore Triangle, an A-B graded
neighborhood, has seen a 12% decline in occupied housing units over the last 60 years, Kennedy Park has
seen a 55% decrease, and LaSalle Park has a 43% decrease (Figure 3).
Not only has housing unit occupation declined, but the percentage of owner-occupation has declined rapidly
in these neighborhoods, from 75% in 1960 to under 50% today (Figure 4). The wealth gap also manifests
in employment trends, as the income gap between A and D neighborhoods continues to widen (Figure 5).
Median family income in 2020 in Kennedy and LaSalle Park is 66% and 43% of income respectively in these
neighborhoods than it was in 1960, respectively, showing the difficulty in building wealth with declining
neighborhood income. Looking at income disparities in South Bend as a whole, 29.6% of households of
color—31.3% of Black households—had income below the federal poverty threshold, while only 10.4% of
white households had income below the federal poverty threshold7.
Furthermore, unemployment shocks such as the recession or the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately
affected predominately Black neighborhoods in South Bend (Figure 6), substantially deterring the ability to
build wealth for residents in these neighborhoods.
Figure 3: Occupied Housing Units, 1960-2020
YEAR
NORTHSHORE
TRIANGLE
KENNEDY
PARK
LASALLE
PARK
1960 716 1245 845
1970 801 1084 556
1980 757 822 657
1990 751 728 666
2000 770 628 607
2010 717 377 453
2020 702 492 607
60-Year Change -12.4%-54�6%-42�8%
Source: U.S. Census Data, 1960-2020
10 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
Figure 4: Percentage Owner Occupied Units by Neighborhood 1960-2020
Source: U.S. Census Data, 1960-2020
Figure 5: Median Family Income by Neighborhood 1960-2020
Source: U.S. Census Data, 1960-2020
Figure 6: Unemployment Rates by Neighborhood 1960-2020
Source: U.S. Census Data, 1960-2020
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 11
Black residents began moving to South Bend to work at the Studebaker factory in the 1940s, largely residing
in the LaSalle and Kennedy Park neighborhoods. Unfortunately, Studebaker announced its closing in 1963
and completed the process by 1966.9 When looking at the effect of Studebaker’s closing on the LaSalle and
Kennedy Park neighborhoods, a decline in median family income and an increase in unemployment continued
as residents of Kennedy and LaSalle struggled to find employment in South Bend. Figures 5 and 6, show the
decline in median family income and disparity in unemployment, as the mass layoff of workers, specifically
Black workers, concluded.
Without employment opportunities, neighborhood income continued to experience a sharp but steady
decline, while unemployment continued to climb from the 1960 and 1970 era lows. Income from factory
work was a primary financial tool of Black residents, while other communities could leverage their
institutional relationships and through financing to spur other employment opportunities or at the worker
level individuals could simply pivot and utilize their skillsets in other industries, Black residents were either
excluded from other industries or exploited forced to make less than their Studebaker wages.
While owner occupancy and housing units remained relatively stable in A- or B-graded neighborhoods,
residents bleeding out of Kennedy Park and LaSalle Park never ceased, which has likely been a major
contributor to declining property values. As estimated in Figure 7, we can deduce from the data that
neighborhood-wide equity positions in non-redlined areas have remained relatively stable, while the LaSalle
Park neighborhood and Kennedy Park neighborhood have lost 75% and 88% of their equity positions,
respectively. Looking at credit scores in South Bend by Census tract (Figure 8), Kennedy and LaSalle Park and
neighboring Westside neighborhoods tend to have lower credit scores than neighborhoods on the Eastside.
This disparity helps to explain the decision to place the Financial Empowerment Center, providing one-on-one
financial counseling, in the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in 2024, geographically
removing barriers for Westside residents to access these financial services.
[graph]
Figure 7: Estimated Home Equity by Neighborhood 1960-2020
Source: U.S. Census Data, 1960-2020
12 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
The continued exclusion of Black and minority residents from full economic opportunities cannot be ignored.
These communities’ inability to grow wealth due to the legacy of racist policies and insufficient action has had
massive consequences for residents of South Bend’s predominately Black neighborhoods.
While South Bend’s predominately white neighborhoods enjoy sustained progress through higher home
values, gainful employment opportunities, and compounded wealth, predominately Black neighborhoods see
higher rates of home vacancy and rentership, declining property equity percentages, and a sustained lack of
financing options available to invest in a house and a neighborhood they call home.
Through the initial steps of the Financial Empowerment Blueprint, including the exploration of a Financial
Empowerment Center in the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, our long-term
roadmap toward policy change and enfranchisement of these communities aims to address these disparities
that too many have suffered for too long.
Figure 8: Credit Score by Census Tract, 2022
Source: Experian, 2022
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 13
COMMUNITY AND
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Resident engagement is essential for the Financial Empowerment Blueprint’s creation. Throughout the
Blueprint creation process, the City of South Bend held multiple engagement opportunities for resident
and stakeholder input from September – December 2022. The Financial Empowerment team worked to
strategically engage over 2,000 residents in-person (350) and virtually (1,900). During this engagement
period, the City provided opportunities for community members and leaders to provide their input and
feedback on critical issues regarding financial empowerment and racial wealth equity. These community
discussions worked to counter historic disenfranchisement, to craft equitable Blueprint initiatives, assisted
in understanding the needs and gaps in residents’ financial experiences, and to build community support and
momentum for the implementation of the Blueprint. During this time, the City also held scoping meetings
with internal and external service providers with different City teams and departments local nonprofit
organizations. The series of events for resident engagement and stakeholder input with descriptions and
goals of the event are summarized in the table below:
COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Engagement Date of
Event Description of Event Blueprint Goals of
Event
Internal City Kickoff May 2022
Internal meeting with City leaders to brainstorm how to
include financial empowerment and racial equity in their
programs and work.
Began a conversation with City
leaders to partner with for financial
empowerment and racial equity work
Undesign the Redline
Community Advisory
Group Meetings
August 2022
October 2022
November 2022
Discussion the effects of discrimination in South Bend and
how Black residents remained resilient through policies like
Redlining
Informed the Undesign the Redline
exhibit and provided historical
context on wealth-prevention policies
in South Bend.
Equity Week September
2022
A chronological presentation of policies impacting Black
wealth creation. A 3-part resident and stakeholder focus
group series with a data presentation of the national racial
wealth divide and exploration of the factors which lead to
the disparate wealth accumulation levels in South Bend’s
Black community.
Hosted public events on racial equity
and financial empowerment.
Boosts and Blocks –
Display and Discussion September 13th
Presentation of the local chronology of Black wealth-
building and wealth-prevention in South Bend and host
discussions of the initiatives used to counter past, present,
and future discrimination.
Received resident input/feedback on
Black wealth building in South Bend.
Roundtable
Conversations September 15th
Discussions with community leaders on financial stability
and how the City of South Bend can play a role in improving
these critical issues.
Gathered local service providers and
subject-matter experts together to
center financial empowerment in
their work.
Racial Wealth Divide
Data Panel September 15th
Presentation on the local racial wealth divide and
conversation with community leaders whose work engages
with financial empowerment.
Presented data on South Bend’s
racial wealth divide to the public and
showcased financial empowerment
resources from local community
leaders.
Undesign the Redline
Soft Launch and
Blueprint Constituency
Soft Launch
October 2022
Presentation of exhibit on redlining in South Bend. Held
discussions on how to address financial challenges faced by
different constituency groups in South Bend.
Collected resident input/feedback on
proposed Blueprint initiatives.
Undesign the Redline
Full Launch December 2022 Presentation of full redlining exhibit and held talks on this
history and how to address it.
Showcased local and national effects
of redlining, especially for Black
South Bend residents.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 15
STAKEHOLDER INPUT & FEEDBACK FROM EVENT SERIES
Great neighborhoods marked w/ diversity, quality homes, schools, parks, and public services.
We need to know the initiatives. More black leaders at the table. Decision makers.
Pride in homes. But you can’t clean your way out of a dilapidated home.
How do we get to the table and not just at a community meeting? Better communication about programs. Leadership is needed. How are we going to bring up our children?
The Black wealth gap...through white America is substantial. It’s a big gap. So we have to say, “Okay, what do we do as a community to educate each other?”
The importance of home ownership...When you could no longer legally discriminate against certain people, we saw that white flight. Those neighborhoods that were once good homes that had value, now start to lose this value, and people are leaving the neighborhoods.
We’ve been dogged out strategically. Strategically, yes. But yet, we still got to remember who we are...and get together and make these things work.
What is the percentage of women in business entrepreneurs? What is the percentage of African American women in business? And the numbers were astonishing, because they were very very low. So, for me, it’s just showing up.
When we see our senior citizens showing up, it’s time. We need to pay attention, we need to listen because they deserve to be respected. They deserve to be invested in, in their later years of life. They have done a lot of this hard work.
Blocks should not be removed, BUT, BOOSTED, revitalized, given a make-over. Put value BACK into existing communities
When you think about building wealth, you need assets, right? You need financial lending. You need to be able to borrow money. Equitable...It’s fairness. Irregardless of your credit score, whatever, we weren’t allowed this access, to get the loan, to buy the loans. So, home equity, we were always left, we would never get there. The resources that we needed for equity.
Past initiatives to build-up the white middle-class worked, black families were routinely prohibited. Federal gov’t created wealth for whites.
Access to administrative-only things that a small business doesn’t have. If they don’t have access to capital, they can’t afford to buy those other services. If you can’t afford to buy the accounting, buy the marketing, design, all of those things... If you want people to succeed, you have to address that barrier.
There are good programs. There are people who need them. But the connection and information isn’t there.
We want to take you out of this poor consumer category and make you an owner and producer and entrepreneur. But we can do it collectively, we’re not saying that you become all those things...We want to take you from dependency to independency. From independency to interdepency. Dependency: you do it for me. Independency: I’ll do it for myself. Interdependency: we will do it together.
When you talk about financially empowering, it’s not just about getting the youth involved, but it’s starting to teach them the skills on how to manage the money that they’re making. So, I think one of the things would be do they have a bank account setting them up. Teach them what a debit card is, how to use it.
I think the jobs, getting jobs for kids is crucial.
Throughout the engagement series, the City obtained direct input and feedback from residents regarding
their lived experiences with wealth building and extraction. The City utilized several techniques and
coordinated a mixed methods approach to capture both written and verbal feedback. This allowed the City
to receive direct feedback from residents on elements of the Blueprint, including what they would like to
see regarding financial empowerment and wealth building for the future. Below, find a selection of the input
received at the Boosts and Blocks Discussion and Undesign the Redline Soft Launch:
STAKEHOLDER INPUT & FEEDBACK FROM EVENT SERIES
16 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
Access to career
opportunities
Different
cultures living
and coming
together
Generational
wealth
Livable income
to enjoy life
Regaining
respect for Black
lives
Access to quality
healthcare,
education, jobs
Education and
work to become
credit worthy
Have
opportunities
and know where
to get them
Neighborhoods
as flourishing
villages
Thriving,
communal
neighborhoods
Affordable
housing
opportunities
Equality among
communities
Healthy, prideful
neighborhoods
Ownership
within our
community
Vibrant small
business
community
Decent housing
in all parts of
town
Everybody
cares about
everybody’s
success
Kids can truly
dream and
achieve dream
Pathways to
opportunities
Youth
Programming
At our Roundtable Conversations with stakeholders and community leaders in South Bend, attendees were
asked, “What does prosperity mean to you?”. The City held three Roundtable Conversations comprised of
various service providers and subject-matter experts to discuss financial stability and financial empowerment,
including representation from the City, community development corporations, banks, business owners,
CDFIs, contractors, and developers. While community prosperity can take different forms and functions, it is
important for all residents of South Bend to ideate what elements constitute a prosperous, thriving city. Such
visions of prosperity provide a guiding framework to align with the Blueprint’s mission and actions.
WHAT DOES PROSPERITY MEAN TO YOU?
While the Financial Empowerment Blueprint cannot address the totality of these statements of prosperity,
the Blueprint can contribute to building a prosperous South Bend for all residents through financial
empowerment. Focusing on building equitable and flourishing neighborhoods, creating opportunities for
ownership and generational wealth transfer, providing greater access and enhancement to existing resources,
and engaging in action to reduce current and historical financial harm are important frameworks that guide
the action plan outlined in the Financial Empowerment Blueprint to contribute to building a more prosperous
and equitable South Bend.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 17
Throughout these discussions, several key themes emerged that provided guidance toward the development
of the Financial Empowerment Blueprint to address the issue of disenfranchisement of Black South Bend
residents and to better serve the needs of all residents. Summarized below are broad themes that inform our
Financial Empowerment Blueprint:
Neighborhoods: Equitable and Flourishing
A frequently discussed topic was the inequity in the development, maintenance, and perception of the
neighborhoods in South Bend, particularly the inequity of South Bend’s West Side compared to other areas.
Residents discussed the need for all neighborhoods to be vibrant and flourishing for South Bend to truly
thrive. Working to create equitable and flourishing neighborhoods addresses the issue of disenfranchisement
of many Black South Bend residents to ensure South Bend progresses with a core of equality.
Ownership and Generational Wealth
Residents discussed the importance of asset ownership, specifically home ownership, as a primary tool for
wealth building. However, initiatives around ownership expand beyond the simple ownership of a home.
Initiatives need to include ownership education, asset acquisition assistance, asset maintenance and
preservation, and asset growth opportunities to truly build wealth. Such asset ownership also creates the
ability to build generational wealth, increasing a family’s and neighborhood’s wealth position over time.
Existing Resources: Access and Enhancement
While many current City initiatives relate—directly or indirectly—to financial empowerment, residents
expressed the lack of awareness and visibility for many of these programs. Moreover, many discussed how
these City initiatives could be improved or enhanced to better serve the needs of residents. Doing so allows
more residents to access strengthened programs, better aligning City services with the current needs of
residents.
Financial Harm Reduction
Black residents expressed difficulty with wealth-building due to the historic financial harm. Opportunities to
build wealth for Black residents of South Bend have largely been prevented or impaired. While the City has
reduced the occurrence of punitive fines and fees, additional support will be needed to mitigate predatory
practices which may cause future wealth-extraction. Current efforts to reduce financial harm include: the
Pathways program which provides access to livable wages through workforce development, utility forgiveness
program which assisted by reducing utility-based cost burdens incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the
enactment of the Rental Safety Verification Program to ensure quality of place for residents, and addressed
environmental justice through lead safety initiatives.
COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT THEMES
18 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT
GUIDING FRAMEWORK
Our community and stakeholder engagement sessions, racial wealth divide research, and various internal and
external conversations during the Blueprint creation showed that financial empowerment is not a one-size-
fits-all model. Residents differ in their financial empowerment needs based on their life statuses and current
financial situations. While residents can collectively benefit from financial empowerment services in South
Bend, it is important to look at different constituency groups to specifically address the financial challenges
and needs of those groups. Therefore, the City of South Bend developed a guiding framework for a path to
financially empower residents of South Bend. This is an overall framework on how the City should operate
when it comes to financial empowerment decision-making. Each aspect of financial empowerment will take
time and resources to enact. The overall framework will continuously be refined to better reflect the financial
needs of residents.
This guiding framework serves as a continuum of financial empowerment for any South Bend resident.
Dependent of life and financial status, residents can enter this framework wherever their needs can best be
met. Residents can progress along this continuum, starting with employment with a savings program as a
youth until they are ready to pass down generational wealth as a senior. This framework is also reiterative,
meaning that, as generational wealth passes down to future generations, such wealth compounds to create a
more financially empowered generation, neighborhood, and city than the previous.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT GUIDING FRAMEWORK
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 21
The framework categories of financial foundation, financial management, and wealth building represent
a three-phased approach to financial empowerment to increase the South Bend residents’ ability to build
wealth over time. Therefore, the Financial Empowerment Blueprint works to:
Collectively build financial empowerment for South Bend residents with a specific focus on addressing racial
wealth equity through a three-phase model:
Financial Foundation
Financial Foundation helps residents gain the necessary financial status to have the ability to build
wealth, specifically income growth. Income growth as the first phase of financial empowerment recognizes
the need for financial harm reduction to address historical discrimination that has prevented income growth
in the first place. In this Blueprint, income growth is primarily addressed by improving current City programs
through the lens of financial empowerment, which also increases resource access as well. The City of South
Bend needs to be intentional in bringing all programmatic enhancements to our target communities as a
means of increasing access to resources.
Financial Management
Financial Management helps residents control, organize, and grow their finances and ability to build
wealth through financial coaching and counseling. This second phase of financial empowerment recognizes
the need for financial coaching and counseling to generate an ability to build wealth and assist with
providing the opportunity for asset ownership. In this Blueprint, financial management is primarily addressed
through the establishment of financial empowerment partnerships to help create and bolster a Financial
Empowerment Center to be housed in the newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.
Wealth Building/Transfer
Wealth Building/Transfer helps residents prepare for, acquire, and grow their assets in order to build and
transfer their wealth. This third phase of financial empowerment recognizes the need for a longer-term ability
to build wealth only after the establishment and success of foundational financial counseling and income-
building programs. In this Blueprint, wealth building/transfer is primarily addressed through new financial
empowerment programs, as well as research and collaboration on a long-term vision for equitable and
flourishing neighborhoods.
Specifically address the financial and wealth-building needs of four different constituencies in South Bend:
Youth employment opportunities are vital to youth engagement and help provide the opportunities for
building key financial habits essential to navigating the job market in the future. Providing youth employment
with a dollar-for-dollar savings match program offered by the City may increase youth’s income while
promoting savings habits for future asset-building and wealth-building.
Workers have already established jobs with income yet may exist in lower-level positions at an organization
or company with a lower level of income. This means that, during an economic downturn, these workers with
lower-level positions are often the first to be laid off. Having a City government engage with employers on
behalf of their residents to create training opportunities while securing commitments to increase wages after
training has been completed can help provide better financial stability. While building out financial counseling
services to manage and grow their new financial position, workers can increase their wealth-building ability
through asset building and retirement preparation.
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INITIATIVE SELECTION AND CONSTITUENCY GROUPS
22 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
Asset Builders need opportunities and support to acquire assets, as many financial situations may
complicate the asset acquisition process. Such asset acquisition support can be followed by managing and
leveraging the acquired assets to maintain the value and upkeep of assets, whether a home, a business, or
another asset. Finally, value-growth planning helps to increase the property value, business value, or general
asset value to ensure wealth is built and grown.
Seniors provide invaluable experience, work, and contributions to society. Accessing retirement support and
financial services allows seniors to ensure they are financially able to retire comfortably. This is followed by
income and asset protection programs to protect seniors from financial harm and maintain their assets so
that they have the ability to pass down generational wealth through the help of estate planning and will-
writing services.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 23
CITY ROLE
Many City roles, responsibilities, and initiatives can directly or indirectly affect the financial empowerment
of South Bend residents. The City of South Bend will explore how financial empowerment as integral to the
operations of the City through its abilities to:
• Enhance City services with wealth-building strategies,
• Support the creation of new programs and partnerships
• Convene partners and stakeholders for decision-making, and
• Host continuous engagements with residents.
Furthermore, working to financially empower South Bend residents is a community-based endeavor;
community partners are instrumental in addressing the financial needs of South Bend residents. The
City anticipates forming new partnerships and strengthening existing partnerships to bolster financial
empowerment in South Bend. Finally, the City anticipates that executing the action plan outlined in the
Financial Empowerment Blueprint can ultimately work toward increasing the wealth-building ability of South
Bend residents, with a specific focus on wealth-building in Kennedy and LaSalle Park.
24 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT
ACTION PLAN
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT ACTION PLAN
To open opportunity to all in South Bend and Black residents in particular, the City of South Bend will work
to financially empower South Bend residents and grow residents’ ability to build wealth. With a specific
focus on racial wealth equity, the City of South Bend will improve current programming, establish financial
empowerment partnerships, and develop new financial empowerment programs through the following action
plan:
Short-Term Plan: Improvement of Current Programming, Exploration of New Programming
(March 2023 – December 2023)
Enhancement of existing City programs
• Youth Jobs SB
• Pathways
• Efforts to Support Homeownership
Exploration of a Financial Empowerment Center
• One-on-one financial counseling
• Connection to City and partner resources
Mid-Term Plan: Establishment of Financial Empowerment Partnerships (January 2024 –
December 2025)
Intent to continue programmatic enhancements
• Additional City programs
Implementation of a Financial Empowerment Center with Community Partnerships
Future Work: Development of New Financial Empowerment Programs (January 2026 – Onward)
Research and Collaboration on a Long-Term Neighborhood Vision for Homeownership
Expansion of Financial Empowerment Center services
• Continued exploration of ways to enhance financial services and resources
॰ Financial solvency, credit enhancement, and cost-burden reduction support for personal
and business needs.
Continued enhancement of City programs through a financial empowerment lens
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FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 27
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT:
THE ROAD AHEAD
28 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
SHORT-TERM PLAN
(Mar. 2023 – Dec. 2023)
Enhancement of Existing City
Programs
Enhancement 1: Venues, Parks, and Arts’ Youth
Jobs SB
Youth Jobs SB is a year-round program, primarily
in the summer months, that employs youth from
ages 14 – 20 through Venues, Parks, and Arts to
provide valuable financial tools and job experience,
helping reduce youth unemployment, specifically
minority youth unemployment, as a result. The
City also convenes local financial institutions
and selects financial education curriculum for
participants to complete during the program.
To continue financially empowering South Bend
youth through Youth Jobs SB, the City will fund a
savings match for participants and convene local
financial partners to assist with obtaining parental
permission for the creation of youth banking
accounts for the saving program as needed.
Youth Jobs SB Enhancements
• Phase 1 (2023): Creation of a Youth Summer
Savings Plan for Youth Jobs SB participants
• Phase 2 (2024-2025): Develop budget and
funding mechanism for Youth Summer
Savings Match for Youth Jobs SB participants
• Phase 3 (2026-Onward): Provide Youth Jobs SB
participants access to financial management
providers in South Bend.
Through these enhancements, Youth Jobs SB
participants are able to craft a savings plan to learn
the financial tools for future savings and financial
management. A savings match will be provided to
incentivize the savings plan, increasing the financial
foundation of Youth Jobs SB participants. Providing
access to financial management providers allows
the youth to have relevant and available services to
grow their finances and prepare for initial wealth
building.
Enhancement 2: Department of Community
Investment’s Pathways Program
The Pathways program works with Purdue
University’s Manufacturing Senior Industry
Advisory to perform employer outreach for an
occupational training program. The City then
selects areas of employee training and funds
this initiative as a benefit to residents. As stated
earlier, income levels and entry-level positions
have impacted Black residents’ ability to become
financially stable. In recent years, the Pathways
program enrollment slightly declined due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, consequentially reducing the
number of training options available. Therefore,
a broader set of training options could attract
more participants to the program. To financially
empower workers, the City will work to promote
the Pathways program by increasing its visibility
and effectiveness to attract both more participants
and more organizations with training options.
Pathways Enhancements
• Phase 1 (2023): Launch a cross-promotional
marketing campaign with the Community
Homebuyer’s Corporation to boost program
visibility and increase program participation
• Phase 2 (2024-2025): New job budgeting
and asset acquisition through the FEC
management principles for worker financial
management support
KPI TARGET METRIC DESIRED OUTCOME
Youth reached
in Kennedy Park
and LaSalle Park
per year
50 youth in target
neighborhoods
Increase project impact
and awareness of
initiative for further
growth
Safe bank
accounts opened
per year
40 accounts
in target
neighborhoods
Develop safe financial
foundation for more
residents in key
neighborhoods
Dollars saved by
youth per year $100 per year Begin wealth-building at
an early age
Key Performance Indicators (2023 – 2024)
30 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
• Phase 3 (2026-Onward): Develop budget and
funding mechanism for financial management
providers for Pathways participants
• Through these enhancements, South Bend
residents benefit from an enhanced pool
of employers, helping residents increase
income and obtain more secure jobs with
participating employers as a result. These
enhancements provide greater opportunities
for longer-term employment options, helping
more South Bend workers obtain a more
secure financial foundation.
Enhancement 3: Department of Community
Investment’s Efforts to Support Homeownership
The City of South Bend is a HUD Designated
Housing Counseling Agency that provides a variety
of counseling services including budget / financial
management counseling, pre-purchase counseling,
post-purchase counseling (in coordination with
Community Homebuyers Corporation), and
mortgage default counseling. Financial literacy
and financial management are foundational skills
needed to build wealth. These skills and knowledge
about homebuying and homeownership are not
always taught or passed down within families,
including lower income households. Counseling
services help provide education and empower
individuals to build assets and financial stability.
The Community Homebuyers Corporation (CHC)
is a nonprofit organization, composed of seven
financial institutions who, in partnership with the
City of South Bend, offers the Homeownership
Assistance Program to help people get a good
home at an affordable price. Those that qualify
receive a mortgage through CHC and a grant in
the form of a forgivable second mortgage equal
to 20% of the home purchase price. Eligibility
requirements include income qualifying for the
program. As shown earlier, with income levels in
Kennedy and LaSalle Park lower compared to South
Bend and other neighborhoods in South Bend, a
supportive applicant referral network or targeted
outreach and education efforts could increase
the CHC’s visibility in the Kennedy and LaSalle Park
neighborhoods.
Furthermore, in past years, the City has reviewed
and examined code violations to determine where
the greatest need for housing stock maintenance
is, operating under the assumption that areas with
larger proportions of code violations indicated
that area’s housing stock needed assistance and
residents could benefit from financial assistance to
make repairs on their own. Using this code violation
data, the City geographically targeted its home
repair program to address areas with the greatest
needs for home repair. This example serves as a
model for a geographically-specific strategy in
Kennedy and LaSalle Park to address the areas
with the greatest opportunity for increasing
homeownership. This approach could be beneficial
to building wealth in these neighborhoods. To
financially empower asset builders, the City
will work with the Community Homebuyer’s
Corporation to increase its visibility and the City
will work through the financial counseling of the
Financial Empowerment Center to better prepare
residents to be potential applicants to receive asset
acquisition support.
Community Homebuyer Corporation
Enhancements
KPI TARGET METRIC DESIRED OUTCOME
Pathways
employer
partners per
year
Growing by 20
participating
employers per year
Increase the number of
participating employers
to grow awareness and
programmatic impact
Wage increases
of Pathways
participants per
year
Increase wages
of program
participants by 3-5%
annually
Improve financial
foundation of Pathways
participants to increase
ability to build wealth
Promotions
gained by
Pathways
participants per
year
Increase the
number of Pathways
participants who
hold leadership
positions by 20%
Provide Pathway
participants with more
secure employment
options to help financial
stability
Key Performance Indicators (2023 – 2024)
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 31
• Phase 1 (2023): Program marketing support
through a cross-promotional campaign with
Pathways program and other income growth
City initiatives.
• Phase 2 (2024-2025): Provide budgeting,
savings, and credit review support for
residents seeking to apply for a mortgage.
• Phase 3 (2026-Onward): Add financial
support for residents who have completed
the requisite consultation and financial
management technical assistance programs.
Through these enhancements, the increased
education and outreach efforts can increase the
visibility of available programs in Kennedy and
LaSalle Park, increasing access to asset acquisition
support for homeownership and building wealth
as a result.
Exploration of a Financial Empowerment Center
March 2023 – December 2023
In 2023, the City of South Bend plans to apply
for funding from the Cities for Financial
Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) to create a
Financial Empowerment Center (FEC). Financial
Empowerment Centers offer professional, one-on-
one financial counseling as a free public service
to enable residents to address their financial
challenges and needs and plan for their futures10.
Professionally trained FEC counselors help
residents manage their money, pay down debt,
increase savings, establish and build credit, and
access safe and affordable mainstream banking
products.
The model is based on four core tenets. First,
people in financial trouble need individualized help,
not just education. Second, they should receive
high-quality services from a professional, trained
counselor. Third, financial counseling works well as
a public service: city government is a trusted voice
amidst scams and complicated financial choices, a
natural convener of partners, and can implement
and market services at scale. Finally, financial
counseling fits naturally with other social services,
helping to bolster residents’ underlying financial
stability and improve their ability to achieve other
social service outcomes.
In this initial phase exploratory phase, the City
will work with the CFE Fund and local community
partners the IMPower Center and Near Northwest
Neighborhood, Inc. to develop a plan for the
Financial Empowerment Center, with the
intention of the newly renovated Martin
Luther King Jr� Community Center serving as
the FEC hub in 2024. This work includes research,
collaboration, and preparation to provide one-on-
one financial counseling as a municipal service for
South Bend residents. The IMPower Center is a
community-based resource center that provides
financial education, small business support,
resource connections.11 and Near Northwest
Neighborhood, Inc. invests financial and human
resources to positively impact residents of the
Near Northwest Neighborhood and other target
neighborhoods.12
Housing the Financial Empowerment Center in the
Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center will help
to:
• Build equitable and flourishing
neighborhoods by geographically placing
financial empowerment services on the
West Side, allowing financial empowerment
services to be more easily accessible to the
KPI TARGET METRIC DESIRED
OUTCOME
Awareness
of available
financial
stability and
homeownership
resources
In coordination with
other City wealth
building initiatives, share
homeownership resources
with 100 recipients at 10
events
Increase
awareness
about resources
for financial
stability and
homeownership
Number of
participants
assisted by
financial
counseling
Move at least 10% of those
receiving financial assistance
to become mortgage ready
per year
Increase
financial
stability and
wealth building
opportunities
of residents
Key Performance Indicators (2023 – 2024)
32 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
residents of Kennedy and LaSalle Park and
surrounding Westside neighborhoods.
• Provide a path to ownership and generational
wealth by providing financial counseling
services that can provide residents with the
tools to grow opportunity and build wealth
• Increase access to resources by serving as
a hub of information for financial services
and resources in South Bend, geographically
located on the West Side
• Provide supports to address financial needs
and repair financial issues for residents
through financial counseling
The Financial Empowerment Center can also play
a key role in connecting clients, through referral
partnerships, to other social services to support
the financial stability of South Bend residents.
Community/City Feedback
Because the Financial Empowerment Blueprint
is a living document, the successes, challenges,
and lessons learned from this initial short-term
action plan will guide the priorities and directives
of future financial empowerment work. We plan to
engage in feedback conversations with residents
using the enhanced programs, City workers, and
community partners to continuously evaluate
our financial empowerment efforts and address
priorities for future financial empowerment work.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 33
• Program: Office of Sustainability
Potential Enhancements: Train Kennedy and
LaSalle Park workers on green infrastructure
development and maintenance, Target
Kennedy and LaSalle Park homes for green
home improvements and maintenance to
decrease energy cost and increase equity
position
• Program: Small-scale incremental
development
Potential Enhancements: Focus on
neighborhood owners and developers in
Kennedy and LaSalle Park for targeted
technical assistance to acquire and optimize
assets, including renovations and new
construction.
Financial Empowerment Center
Implementation and Partnerships
The City will look to partner with local
organizations to extend financial empowerment
to these partners’ programs and services. This
includes partnering with the IMPower Center,
Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc., and others
to implement the Financial Empowerment Center
in 2024. This partnership includes the continued
connection and education around existing City
and community resources, development of
resources, financial curricula, financial tools, and
staffing necessary to implement effective financial
empowerment services, including one-on-one
financial counseling, at the Financial Empowerment
Center.
MID-TERM PLAN
(Jan. 2024 - Dec. 2025)
Establishment of Financial
Empowerment Partnerships
In this phase of financial empowerment, the
City will work to form financial empowerment
partnerships to continue programmatic
enhancement with financial empowerment
services and implement the Financial
Empowerment Center with community partners to
provide financial counseling services and connect
residents to other social and financial services in
South Bend.
Intent to Continue City Programmatic
Enhancements
Several other City programs could benefit from
financial empowerment enhancements in order
to grow residents’ ability to build wealth. For
that reason, the City will explore expanding
programmatic enhancements based on the
success of previous enhancements. Though not an
exhaustive list, below is a selection of programs
that could be enhanced to boost financial
empowerment, implemented in 2024 at the
earliest.
• Program: Revolving Business Enterprise Fund
Potential Enhancements: Increase budget
to better address wealth-building initiatives
for Westside businesses, Use aggregated
Financial Empowerment Center data to
match services to residents’ wealth-building
needs, specifically business support
• Program: Small Business Assistance Suite
Potential Enhancements: Shift program
support to provide youth asset-building
support and counselors; Define youth and
worker pathways to become asset builders
to create more wealth-building opportunities
and strategies
34 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
FUTURE WORK
(Jan. 2026 – Onward)
Development of New Financial
Empowerment Programming
The long-term vision of the Financial
Empowerment Blueprint centers around the
establishment of new financial empowerment
programs. However, this long-term vision of
financial empowerment would occur only after the
establishment and success of foundational income-
building programs and financial counseling, as
outlined in the two earlier phases. Future financial
empowerment work includes the expansion of
services at the Financial Empowerment Center
and research and collaboration on a long-term
neighborhood vision, including homeownership
programs and increased small business and
entrepreneurial support.
Expansion of a Financial Empowerment
Services
Over time, the City can expand partners referring
clients to the Financial Empowerment Center to
support priorities based on continuing resident
feedback and review of issues residents are
currently facing. The City will also look to expand
services beyond one-on-one financial counseling
at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center.
These services have yet to be procured and will
require future research and collaboration to enact.
Some of these expanded financial services may
include:
• Youth: Deeper supports on financial
education, budgeting and asset-building
• Worker: Income and debt management,
asset-building and financial planning for
retirement
• Asset Builder: Support the development
of asset building products and processes,
technical assistance for leveraging assets and
the expansion of asset builder portfolios
• Senior: Income and asset protection services,
elder financial protection program, estate
planning
Research and Collaboration on a Long-Term
Neighborhood Vision for Homeownership
The City is currently investigating potential
homeownership programs to pursue, pending
the success of preceding financial empowerment
initiatives. A proposed version of this long-term
vision includes a three-phase program:
• Phase 1: Gap financing for low-income
residents in Kennedy Park and LaSalle Park
neighborhoods to increase homeownership
rates and household equity positions
• Phase 2: Home repair program, similar to past
City home repair programs, but specifically
targeted toward repairing Kennedy Park
and LaSalle Park neighborhood roofs and
updating HVAC systems
• Phase 3: Development of single-family infill
housing in Kennedy Park and LaSalle Park
neighborhoods’ numerous vacant lots
An initial exploratory benefit-cost analysis of this
three-phase homeownership program returned
promising results: the City’s projected investment
in Kennedy Park and LaSalle Park would likely
result in proportional returns for neighborhood
residents. While it is acknowledged neighborhoods
require more than homeownership programs
to thrive, identifying homeownership as the
backbone of flourishing neighborhoods that
creates the most salient opportunity to build and
transfer generational wealth, an essential strategy
to address the racial wealth divide in South Bend.
With deeper, more granular investigation into such
a community development project, we hope to
continue finding significant promise in this type of
investment while finding ways to optimize benefits
for area residents.
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 35
CONCLUSION
The Financial Empowerment Blueprint explores
a strategy to address the racial wealth gap in
South Bend through financial empowerment
initiatives that work to empower residents to
establish a financial foundation, manage and grow
financial well-being, and ultimately build wealth.
Specifically focusing on racial wealth equity, the
Blueprint enacts this strategy by encouraging the
enhancement of current programming through
the lens of financial empowerment, serving as a
guide for establishing partnerships, and calling
for new programmatic initiatives that can slow
and help to reverse the racial wealth gap in South
Bend. This strategy will inform the exploration and
implementation of the new Financial Empowerment
Center, located in the newly renovated Martin
Luther King Jr. Community Center in 2024.
The first steps in executing the strategy in the
Financial Empowerment Blueprint are to work on
the initial enhancement of City programs—Youth
Jobs SB, Pathways, and Community Homebuyers
Corporation—and explore the development of the
Financial Empowerment Center. As this Financial
Empowerment Blueprint is intended to be a living
document, the strategy outlined therein will
continue to evolve based on the successes and
challenges of these initial steps, new research, and
resident wealth-building needs in the future.
CONCLUSION
FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT 37
CITATIONS
1. CFE Fund CityStart Initiative
2. CFE Fund Key Pillars
3. Columbus, OH Financial Empowerment Blueprint
4. Albuquerque, NM Financial Empowerment Blueprint
5. St. Paul, MN Financial Empowerment Blueprint
6. Prosperity Now Racial Wealth Divide Report 2017
7. South Bend Prosperity Now Scorecard
8. South Bend’s Redlining Map
9. Studebaker Assembly 84
10. CFE Fund Financial Empowerment Centers
11. IMPower Center
12. Near Northwest Neighborhood, Inc.
38 FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT BLUEPRINT
Department of Community Investment
City of South Bend
227 West Jefferson Blvd.
South Bend, Indiana 46601
574.233.0311