Who We Are
The Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative (SKC ABC) is comprised of over eighty public, private, and non-profit agencies. The underlying belief of the partners in the SKC ABC is that financial knowledge and sufficient assets are crucial to help struggling families move out of poverty and towards economic self-sufficiency. We have built a system of high-quality, accessible financial empowerment services and interconnected networks to deliver these services throughout King County. Thus, we connect people with a variety of asset-building services, such as access to affordable, mainstream banking; financial planning, education, and coaching; credit and debt counseling; free tax preparation; access to public benefits; microenterprise development; and homeownership and foreclosure prevention resources.
For a list of partner agencies, click here.
Financial Fitness
Day was a huge success!
Thank you to the 65
partner agencies that provided services to over 500 community
members. Over 150 people attended 6 workshops, and 200
people received free credit reports before being counseled.
Hundreds others received many other services, including tax
preparation, FAFSA filing, resume writing, financial planning,
financial services, legal advice, citizenship waiver filing, and
more.
Thank you to the volunteers who helped the day of the event and
the amazing SKC ABC Financial Fitness Day Planning Team that
pulled this complicated event together.
And a big thank you to the sponsors:
latinum level: HomeStreet Bank, United Way of King County
Platinum level: HomeStreet Bank, United Way of King County
Gold level: Wells Fargo
Silver level: American Financial Solutions, BECU, Chase, City of
Seattle, EastWest Bank, Express Advantage, Seattle Parks &
Recreation
Bronze level: KeyBank
Initiatives
Bank on Seattle-King County Provides low- and moderate-income people with access to affordable mainstream financial services, including checking and savings accounts, financial education, and credit opportunities.
Financial Empowerment Training Offers resources, training, and follow-up technical assistance to help social service systems to incorporate a range of financial empowerment services, including public benefits, tax preparation assistance, access to financial services, microenterprise development, credit counseling, and financial education.
Foreclosure Prevention Provides assistance to those at risk of mortgage foreclosure by working with advocates, lenders, and other stakeholders on education and foreclosure prevention and intervention measures. This Team provides resources and training for homeowners and their representatives on foreclosure mediation advocacy.
EITC/Free Tax Preparation Campaign Connects low-income individuals and entrepreneurs with free tax preparation assistance and help in accessing the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Your Money Helpline Answers basic financial questions and provides resource information through an online guide.
Financial Education Partners Network (FEPN) Convenes providers of financial education to learn from each other and increase their ability to deliver high quality education.
Financial Fitness Day is a one day event that combines workshops, one-on-one counseling, and other financial services,offered by a wide array of SKC ABC partners. This community-wide event features credit and debt counseling, financial planning and investment advice, credit reports, free tax preparation, access to public benefits, housing counseling, document shredding to prevent ID theft, legal assistance on bankruptcy and consumer rights, help with FAFSA applications, education and employment resources, Veterans Services, and advice on building a growing a business. The next Financial Fitness Day will take place in Spring 2014.
Publications
Piloting Integration: Lessons From FEGS Health & Human Services and
Solid Ground, CFED convened a six-month Intensive Learning
Cluster of five social service delivery organizations seeking to
strengthen the financial security of the low-income households they
serve. Published April 2013.
Integrating Financial Security and Asset-Building Strategies into
Workforce Development Programs, by Angela Duran, Jennifer Brooks
and Jennifer Medina, CFED, April 2013
Assets & Opportunity Scorecard 2013 by CFED, provides data on household financial security and policy solutioms, by state.
Banking on Opportunity: A Scan of the Evolving Field of Bank On Initiatives, by US Department of the Treasury, including a case study of Bank on Seattle-King County. Published November 2011.
Applying Behavioral Research to Asset-Building Initiatives by Mindy Hernandez. This Innovator-in-Residence at CFED explored how behavioral economics could impact outcomes in three asset-building programs around the country. Published by CFED, April 2011.
Building Better Bank Ons: Top 10 Lessons from Bank on San Francisco provides an honest look at the lessons from Bank on SF and receommends improvements to strengthen the efforts to connect unbanked households to mainstream financial services. Published by New Ameria Foundation and Office of Financial Empwerment (SF). February 2011.
Building Economic Security in America's Cities: New Municipal Strategies for Asset Building and Financial Empowerment reports on the innovative efforts of municipalities, including Seattle, to shore up their residents' economic security through financial empowerment strategies of building and protecting financial assets. Published by CFE and CFED. January 2011.
Assets & Opportunity Profile: Seattle is a data snapshot of the financial security of Seattle residents, and the efforts the City and SKC ABC are making to empower residents financially. Published by CFE and CFED. September 2010.
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