For more than 60 years, GreenPath Financial Wellness has helped people seeking financial management counseling. Founded in Michigan, it has grown to become one of the largest nonprofit financial counseling organizations in the U.S. CEO Kristen Holt talked about the nonprofit’s mission and how it approaches financial literacy and education.
Can you tell us about the mission of GreenPath Financial Wellness and how it has evolved over the years?
GreenPath has been around for over 60 years; we were formed in 1961. Our mission is to empower people to lead financially healthy lives. We work with people to provide them tools to manage life’s ups and downs and achieve their dreams and accomplish their financial goals. We started in Michigan as a local nonprofit, but we’ve expanded now so that we are national, and we are one of the largest credit organizations in the country. Our roots are still here in Michigan. We work with partners all over the country, so that’s how people find us. We partner with over 580 banks, credit unions, employers and others so that people can access financial counseling, and we can provide those services to their employees and members.
What are the challenges you face in providing financial counseling and debt management services?
People don’t know where to turn, and they don’t know whom to trust. ... GreenPath’s call volume in January 2024 was 57% higher than January 2022. We’ve seen a dramatic jump in demand for our debt management program. We are here for people. It's really important for people to know it’s a trusted nonprofit resource right in their backyard that’s here for them and can help navigate these complex situations.
How does GreenPath approach the issue of financial literacy and education, especially in underserved communities?
GreenPath's approach is rooted in empathy-focused coaching and human-centered design, recognizing the influence of emotion and cultural backgrounds on financial decisions. Through initiatives like IDEA, GreenPath is committed to improving financial literacy and education in historically marginalized communities.
How do you tailor your services to meet the unique needs of communities of color?
By integrating demographic questions into our protocol and providing counseling in multiple languages, GreenPath ensures inclusivity. We adapt our services based on insights from interviews with multicultural audiences, addressing unique needs such as nontraditional income sources and collection debt.
Can you explain the Credit Escalator program in more detail? How does it help rebuild trust in financial institutions among BIPOC [black, indigenous, and other people of color] communities?
Trust is a barrier throughout financial services but especially with communities of color, who have been historically marginalized and really earned that distrust with financial services. We designed the Credit Escalator program with these audiences in mind to issue an unsecured loan at a more reasonable interest rate. This groundbreaking initiative for Detroit residents pairs free financial coaching with a low-interest personal loan to improve credit and long-term financial health.
As a partnership, we are working with Michigan First Credit Union on this. People can access the loan with no credit score requirements. The loan is used to repay whatever bad debt is sitting on their credit report or a payday loan at a more reasonable interest rate. So by repaying the new loan, they’re rebuilding their credit in the process. As they get positive payments on this new line of credit, that’s going to increase their credit score. So someone who’s looking to purchase a house or wants to get a car but doesn’t have a high enough credit score to get a good rate. This could be a great tool to help them and get a good relationship with Michigan First Credit Union.