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Financial Empowerment Program Referral
Thank you for your interest in our Financial Empowerment program. As we continue to strengthen and refine our services to better meet the needs of our community, enrollment for this program is currently paused and will reopen in 2026. This temporary pause allows us to evaluate program impact, enhance curriculum, and ensure we’re providing the most effective support possible.
The Financial Empowerment Program helps individuals experiencing a housing crisis move toward financial stability. Participants work closely with Financial Empowerment Specialists on a weekly basis for up to 90 days and are empowered to set goals that enhance their economic mobility. Topics covered may include landlord mediation, financial empowerment, community resources, life skills coaching and more.
To be eligible for the program, participants must:
- Reside in Mecklenburg County
- Have some income
- Be struggling with affordable housing but currently either rent or own a home (no hotel/motel residents)
To refer someone to the Financial Empowerment program, please complete this short form. After the referral has been received, an Financial Empowerment Specialist may follow up with you and/or the customer for more information.
Financial Empowerment Stories
The Cycle of Poverty, Eviction, and Mental Illness
Defining the connection between poverty and mental illness is a chicken-and-egg scenario: does mental illness create an inability to overcome a state of poverty, or does poverty increase or perpetuate the occurrence of mental illness?
The Benefits Cliff: When Progress Costs Too Much
For most people, getting a raise at work is cause for celebration.
But for thousands of hardworking families, a raise can trigger something unexpected – and dangerous – called the benefits cliff.
Crisis Assistance Ministry Names Matthew Sharp Chief Housing Stability Officer
Crisis Assistance Ministry is pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Sharp as Chief Housing Stability Officer (CHSO). Sharp brings more than 19 years of senior leadership experience across the nonprofit and higher education sectors to this critical executive role. As CHSO, Sharp will lead the agency’s Housing Stability Services division, overseeing emergency financial assistance […]
Julia: Giving Back in Gratitude
When we first told Julia’s story, almost a decade ago now, she was emerging from life-altering tragedy and grateful to have found help and hope at Crisis Assistance Ministry. With your support, her utilities were restored, she was connected to one-on-one coaching for longer term housing stability, and later found her voice as a Customer […]
Stronger Together: How Our Partner Agency Network Amplifies Impact
Every day in Mecklenburg County, families face unexpected crises – a job loss, a medical emergency, or a sudden rent increase – that threaten to upend their stability. When that happens, no one should have to face those challenges alone. That belief drives Crisis Assistance Ministry’s Partner Agency Network, a collaboration of organizations working together to ensure help arrives […]
50 Stories for 50 Years
For 50 years, this community has come together here to offer help, hope, and understanding to Mecklenburg County neighbors in need of housing stability. In honor of this milestone year, we are sharing 50 stories of Crisis Assistance Ministry throughout the year. Here’s a recap so far:
Charlotte’s Six-Figure Salary Requirement
Charlotte, North Carolina, has become a place where a comfortable life requires a six-figure salary, according to a recent study from SmartAsset. The study’s authors used a 50/30/20 model for their calculations, in which no more than 50% of a household’s income is allocated for essentials such as housing, transportation, and groceries, 30% for “fun” things such as hobbies and entertainment, and 20% for savings, investments, and paying off debt.
The Real Meaning of Hope, Warmth, & Light
Hope. Warmth. Light. What do these words really mean? What happens when they are taken away? Joe’Asia knows that fear, but she’s now able to share warmth with her family thanks to the help of neighbors like you.
Can We Really Abolish Poverty?
For Pulitzer Prize-winning author and sociologist Matthew Desmond, the answer is YES!
During his recent visit to Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Desmond brought both data and passion to the discussion of why America is one of the richest nations on earth, yet has “more poverty than any other advanced democracy.”
Will Medicaid Expansion Help Mecklenburg?
This long-awaited move by North Carolina will provide welcome relief to many low-wage earners who often are not offered health insurance through their employers. Considering the struggles of working families here in Mecklenburg County, there are certainly thousands who will benefit from Medicaid expansion in our own community. Based on evidence from other states, it’s likely all of us will reap the benefits of improved community health, lower eviction rates, and a stronger safety net for our neighbors.