The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) is now accepting applications for its CalMoneySmart Grant Program, which will award up to $1 million this year to support free financial education for unbanked and underbanked consumers in California.
This is the second round of grant funding. The initial round last year awarded nearly $1 million to 12 nonprofits that serve communities in 17 counties across the state. Grant funds helped organizations create important resources, including:
Mission Asset Fund’s mobile financial education app MyMAF;
Financial education curriculum with El Sol Neighborhood Education Center and the Mexican Consulate at the Ventana Financiero;
And the Juma Ventures YouthConnect program to help youth gain work experience while becoming financially literate.
El Sol s success in getting Black, Latino and other underrepresented populations vaccinated debunks the idea that these groups won t get the shot, said Juan Carlos Belliard, assistant vice president for community partnerships at Loma Linda University Health in San Bernardino County. Loma Linda is collaborating with El Sol to staff and provide doses for clinics. The people who show up are ready for their vaccine, though some are a bit hesitant, he said. They re not like our middle-class folks who are literally crying for the vaccine, Belliard said. These folks are still nervous about it, but you ve removed almost all of these other barriers for them.