Consolidated Credit Celebrates 30 Years of Financial Literacy

Various: I decided to buy a home because I wanted to settle down with my family. In order for me to get a new house I needed to pay all my debt. Where we were renting, it kept increasing. It was challenging to get an organization to lend you the money. We still had this mortgage payment that was going up and up and up. Our appointment was really low, also my bills were piling up on top of each other.
All roads led to Consolidated Credit. One of my neighbors told me about Consolidated Credit. Through Consolidated Credit, they sent me an email, first-time homebuyer. A very, very important support that you get in this process, that, it can be traumatizing sometimes. I really like that they had different people coming in from different areas. Every time I called I felt the warmness over the phone, that they were my personal team. I think without the class, like I said, I don’t know if we would have this house right now. After I finish my debt management program and the house counseling, my credit went to 790. I know this is ours, and that is a great and wonderful comfort. I would definitely recommend Consolidated Credit. I truly thank Consolidated Credit and the team, for everything that they reached out and did for me.
 
Gary Herman, Consolidated Credit – President: “We come to work every day because nothing feels better than helping people lead better lives, but we couldn’t do any of that, without our partners. Simply put, they help us help millions.”
 
A Word from Our Partners
Roselle W Ceasery, Palm Beach State College – Upward Bound: “Consolidated Credit is one of our great partners, who comes in, and not only teaches financial education and literacy to our students, but also to the parents.”
 
Annetta Jenkins, Director of Neighborhood Services – Riveria Beach Community Redevelopment Agency: “Everybody is very appreciative and found this boot camp to be worth their time, and it’s certainly worth our effort and we’re just so eager to have them.”
 
Anna Castillo, Regional Community Manager – TD Bank: “It’s great to have a partner in the community that we can refer them to.”
 
Laurie Sallarulo, President & Chief Executive Officer – Junior Achievement of South Florida: “Consolidated Credit has been a long time supporter and partner of Junior Achievement of South Florida.”
 
Kathy Salerno, Director of Community Affairs – Broward Health: “We look for someone who has a great reputation in the community, is actively involved in financial education that we can partner with, with all of our similar programs.”
 
Melanie Geddess, President & Chief Executive Officer – LifeNet4Families: “So we’re so, so, so grateful to Consolidated Credit, for their assistance and support, not just financially, but every year they come and bring toiletries and food and just so many things that help us to respond to the challenges that people in our community are facing.”
 
Donald Smith, Director of Family Services – Habitat for Humanity of Broward County: “This partnership with Consolidated Credit Solutions, we’re changing lives. We are building intergenerational wealth, and we are building independence for the families that we serve. Thank you, Consolidated Credit Solutions, for this amazing partnership with Habitat for Humanity.”
 
Peter Caspari, Employer Outreach Director – U.S. Department of Defense: “You folks do a phenomenal job, and its so important to educate everybody. Plus our men and women that serve our country.”
 
Nick Sortal, Mayor – City of Plantation: “The more financial literacy you have among a city, the better your city is going to be. So we appreciate having Consolidated Credit in our city.”
 
KOFE
Beatriz Hartman, Financial Wellness Solutions Leader – Consolidated Credit: “KOFE is a financial wellness program that has different features. The online feature is a portal that we give to the corporations to put on their website. Employees will have access to a lot of different tools, also a dedicated toll-free line, so that employees will have access throughout the year to unlimited and free financial coaching.
 
Employers are noticing that nowadays, employees are not only finding themselves with health issues, but also having a lot of problems with their personal finances. They’re also finding that personal finances are affecting the bottom line of the company.
 
So employers are reaching out to Consolidated Credit more and more, looking for that corporate financial wellness program, that it can add to that mix of offerings they have in their wellness initiatives.”
 
The Education Team
Various: We’re here to educate.
And inspire.
And meet you where you are.
 
Estamos aquí para educar e inspirar.
Y encontrarte donde estés.
 
Certified Financial Counselors
Various: We’re counselors.
We’re committed to helping people who need it most.
And to make the debt-free journey as easy as possible
 
Somos consejeros.
Estamos comprometidos a ayudar a las personas que mas lo necesitan.
Y para hacer que el viaje sin deudas sea lo mas facil posible.
 
HUD-Certified Counselors
Various: We get people on the road to financial stability.
And on the road to homeownership.
And out of eviction, foreclosure, and overwhelming debt.
 
Ponemos a las personas en el camino hacia la estabilidad financiera.
Y en el camino a la vivienda propia.
Y por desalojo, ejecución hipotecaria y deuda abrumadora.
 
Client Services Specialists
Various: We’re the guiding light to financial freedom.
We’re here to be a good partner.
To solve problems and do what’s best for our mutual clients.
 
Somos la luz que guía hacia la libertad financiera.
Estamos aquí para ser un buen socio.
Resolver problemas y hacer lo mejor para nuestros clientes mutuos.
 
Nou se limyè k ap gide pou libète finansye.
Nou la pou nou yon bon patnè.
Pou rezoud pwoblèm ak fè sa ki pi bon pou kliyan mityèl nou yo.
 
حن الضوء الهادي للحرية
المالية.
نحن هنا لنكون شريكًا جيدًا.
لحل المشاكل والقيام بما هو
أفضل لعملائنا المشتركين.
 
Nous sommes le phare de la liberté financière.
Nous sommes ici pour être un bon partenaire.
Pour résoudre les problèmes et faire ce qui est le mieux pour nos clients communs.
 
Evan Lasher, Chief Financial Officer – Consolidated Credit: “We’ve been doing this for 30 years.”
April Lewis-Parks, Director of Education & COO – Consolidated Credit: “We’re committed to providing financial literacy education across the country.”
 
Sandra Tobon, Director of Outreach & Housing Counseling – Consolidated Credit: “We will keep advocating for those who need help.”
 
Brenda Horner, Chief Operations Officer – Consolidated Credit: “And working with financial institutions to provide the best possible outcomes.”
 
Gary Herman, President – Consolidated Credit: “We stand ready for the challenges that the next 30 years will bring.”
 
All together: “We are Consolidated Credit!”

Gary Herman: Our mission is to provide financial education in the community. It is impossible for us to do it without the help of everyone in this room.
April Lewis-Parks: I’m so happy to be here in a room full of people that love to help other people. It really touches my heart and I feel like we’re dedicated to financial stability and helping our community, you know, grow and move in positive ways.
Sandra Tobon: My name is Sandra Tobon and I’m the director of housing counseling and community outreach at Consolidated Credit. I’m new to the team, but I cannot be happier.
C. Ron Allen: Words cannot express or even describe what has happened since our relationship began with Consolidated Credit. There’s so much they learn that help prepare them for life in this our global society.
Laurie Sallarulo: Consolidated Credit has been a long-time supporter and partner of Junior Achievement of South Florida. We have board members from Consolidated. So, we’re very very intertwined, which makes sense because our missions are so well aligned.
Ana Castilla: So many people that come to the bank looking for credit or having a lot of questions about their credit. It’s great to have a partner in the community that we can refer them to.
Nick Sortal: I’m a city council member. Part of my goal is to help make people’s lives better. Look, that’s what you guys do every single one of you in some way shape or form. I want a city where people are financially literate.
Nick Sortal: I’m on the Plantation city council and what we always want is informed residents that spend their money better because the more financial literacy you have among a city, the better your city is going to be. We have to reach out to the public and we have to find a way to do that. That’s what Consolidated Credit is good at.
Ana Arce: I was working with family self-sufficiency for 25 years, helping families to become financially independent. And we also help them to become first time homebuyers by providing education. So, that’s why we work closely with Consolidated Credit.
Dawn William-Bobo: We do the first-time homebuyer classes for Consolidated Credit and, you know, sharing the pleasure of contributing back to our community.
Maria Gaitan: I would like to recommit that we are going to continue doing what we’re doing in bringing financial education to help promote our communities.
Paul Atkinson: I’ve served 14 years in the U.S. Navy and I’m delighted to also come back after all these years that I’ve served to see that Consolidated Credit is still here. When I came to this community in 2003 and discovered that they’re around, I wanted to be a part of that just to support because I know what they do for the community.
Monique Corker: We’ve partnered with Consolidated Credit for many years due to their continuous impact and perseverance as it relates to providing financial education, homebuyer assistance. And we actually help sponsor a lot of those programs because we know that our community partners are only stronger when we collaborate together to raise expectations in the communities that we serve.
Monique Corker: One that this is so troubling for people is to talk about financial literacy. Because half of us have, like the people we serve, struggled. Half of us are embarrassed of the things that have happened. I’m the first to say that I’ve come from bad credit to good credit back to bad credit. I know what it feels like to struggle despite how good I look.
Michelle Edwards Collie: The topic for the scholarship competition was “What are the pros and cons of student loans?”
Dawn Clark: For me, financial literacy means the opportunity to better not only yourself but your family, your friends, your loved ones…
Ana Arce: Education and time is very important in life to succeed and to have a more happy life.
Monique Corker: It means opportunity, it means creating generational wealth, it means creating and breaking barriers.
Laurie Sallarulo: I think this is a lifelong skill. I am thrilled it is finally a mandate because this is just as important as math and reading.
Ana Castilla: Financial literacy is really about empowerment and giving people confidence to make the money decisions that they need to make every day.
Paul Atkinson: It’s very important that you understand that financial literacy—you understanding how many works, and what you need to do with money is very important.
Nick Sortal: It’s a whole compendium not of just one huge secret to financial success but a bunch of little secrets.
C. Ron Allen: No matter what kind of education you have, no matter all the connections you have, if you do not have a solid financial foundation, chances are you’re going to have some challenges in life.