Newark First Lady launches financial freedom program for women
Newark First Lady Linda Baraka is spearheading a new financial literacy program empowering 1,000 women across the city. The program offers financial education and tools to achieve personal independence at no cost.
Baraka launched the Newark Women Forward Financial Initiative (NWFMI) with a news conference last Thursday at Krueger-Scott Mansion, introducing key collaborators and providing a detailed overview of the program.
“We know that women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Their wages have been historically less than their male counterparts,” she said. “[The program is] something that starts with the women, but it transfers into our whole community because we know that if our women are taken care of, our community is taken care of, because at the end of the day, the women are the backbone of our community.”
Partnering with the Dfree Financial Freedom Movement and other organizations like Prudential Financial, Audible, and the PNG foundation, the 12-week program is available for free to Newark women through churches, community organizations, and women’s groups.
Participants can join instructor-led or self-paced classes through the Dfree online academy where they’ll receive financial education through both virtual and live events, cost-free solutions to economic concerns, connections to licensed professionals. The women will be provided with books, resources, and support to ensure successful completion, concluding with a graduation ceremony.
Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., the chairman and CEO of Dfree, said that the program curriculum is based on a workbook he created titled “12 Steps to Financial Freedom.” His hope, he said, was to witness the women of Newark achieve multiple financial milestones.
“We’re hoping that a thousand women in Newark will reduce their use of costly credit. We’re hoping that one thousand women will pay down $5,000,000 collectively of debt. We’re hoping that women that don’t have bank accounts will open up a bank account and stop using alternative financial services. We’re hoping that women will begin saving for emergencies. And so when, when an emergency happens, they’re not desperate and therefore driven to use some predatory financial product,” he said.
Soaries Jr said that these aspirations are grounded in the foundation’s data, which indicates that people who have completed the entire process over the last 12 years have accomplished these financial goals. He also expressed his wish for women to implement what they learned into their spheres of influence.
“And then we’re hoping that the one thousand women will finish this and then decide to start groups in their churches, in their families, in their sororities, in their civic organizations. After these thousand go through the process, we hope that they will, in turn, influence others the same way they’ve been influenced.” he said.
Baraka also emphasized the importance of making NWMFI accessible.
“The women are able to do the program in person at one of our local community partners or virtually, whatever is more comfortable for them.” she said. “In addition to that, what we wanted to make sure was that every person, no matter what language you spoke, was able to access this program. So, we have worked very closely with our community partners to get the program translated into different languages that reflect the diversity of our city.”’
Other partners include Industrial Bank, RWJ Barnabas Health, and Invest Newark.
NWMFI originated from a survey conducted during Baraka’s monthly women’s meetings, aiming to address the needs of local women. Survey results highlighted finance as a major concern, leading to the launch of the new city wide initiative, NWMFI.
By fostering financial independence with this program, Baraka hopes that it will lead to overall improvement in the lives of women and the lives they touch.
“It’s a ripple in the pond effect,” she said. “So as an individual, you’re better. Your family is better, and that also will play out into our community and overall, our city to be more financially stable and financially empowered as a city.”
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