For Immediate Release: April 29, 2016

Contact: Kelsey Clayton, Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network Manager, kclayton@prosperityindiana.org, 317-454-8540

Contact: Cheryl Koch-Martinez, Indiana Legal Services, Inc. Project Director, cheryl.koch-martinez@ilsi.net, 317 631-9410

Contact: David Mayorga, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 202-435-7170

Indianapolis, IN –The Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network (Network) and Indiana Legal Services, Inc. were accepted as members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Your Money, Your Goals cohort. The cohort includes 20 partners who were selected to deliver financial empowerment toolkit trainings throughout 2016. The Your Money, Your Goals toolkit is a comprehensive and interactive guide designed for organizations that serve low-wealth consumers. It covers topics like budgeting for daily expenses, managing debt and avoiding common financial traps. Indiana organizations will be trained on versions of the toolkit designed for social service staff and legal aid organizations. The cohort will receive technical assistance from the CFPB.

Because financial coaching and counseling are essential to helping individuals reach financial goals, social service programs across the country are taking steps to integrate financial empowerment into their work with clients. The Indiana partnership will highlight best practices for frontline staff and clients to identify financial barriers and access resources and assistance to address legal obstacles encountered on the path toward self-sufficiency.

“The partnership between the Network and Indiana Legal Services, Inc. will lend a unique approach by bringing together human and legal aid service providers to create referral opportunities for successful client outcomes,” said Indiana Legal Services, Inc.’s Cheryl Koch-Martinez.

Participation in the cohort is an ideal avenue to help enhance knowledge about the importance of financial coaching, legal assistance, and access to other resources to achieve financial stability. Over 15 individuals will be trained in 2016 to facilitate Your Money, Your Goals workshops across Indiana.

“We are excited to see how participation in the cohort will change the way we serve low-wealth Hoosiers in a more holistic way, said Kelsey Clayton, Network Manager. “We will be arming service providers with tools to improve their clients’ financial futures.”

For more information about the CFPB’s Your Money, Your Goals visit: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/your-money-your-goals/

About Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network

The Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network is a statewide coalition working to build assets for low-wealth Hoosiers. It is co-led by Prosperity Indiana, which is a member organization skilled at coalition building and connected to local Indiana communities, and the Indiana Institute for Working Families (IIWF), skilled in research, policy analysis, and advocacy.

About Indiana Legal Services, Inc.

Indiana Legal Services, Inc., a not-for-profit law firm, provides free legal assistance on civil legal matters to low-income persons, seniors and victims of domestic violence in all 92 Indiana counties. ILS staff handle a variety of cases that often threaten an individual’s ability to obtain (or to retain) basic necessities relating to families, housing, employment, public benefits, health care and consumer law matters.