Financial literacy program launches in Hartford for area's Hispanic community

HARTFORD –– When Councilman Amilcar Hernandez arrived in the United States 26 years ago, he had numerous questions about budgeting, saving and understanding taxes.

Now, as the director of finance at Our Piece of the Pie, he encounters these same financial literacy questions from others in his community.  

“So many on our young Hispanic people in Hartford do not understand money, the banking system, the finances, and I know that firsthand,” he said.   

In response to the increasing demand for financial literacy resources in the Hispanic community, U.S. Rep. John Larson announced a $650,000 federal investment to support the Hispanic Federation's culturally responsive financial education initiative in Connecticut’s first Congressional District.

This is in collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration, said Diana Caba, Vice President for Community and Economic Development at the Hispanic Federation. 

Through this initiative, the Hispanic Federation aims to enhance financial literacy by offering educational programs, providing resources in both English and Spanish, and developing a financial education toolkit for community-based organizations to use to support the Hispanic and Latino community. 

“The Hispanic Federation has been in the financial education space for many years, and we have seen firsthand how our communities thrive when provided with information on how to better manage their money,” Caba said. 

The Hispanic Federation is supporting four community-based organizations through this initiative: International Hartford, which provides one-on-one financial coaching in English and Spanish for Latino immigrants; Capitol Squash, offering financial workshops for high school students and their families focused on college and student aid; Our Piece of the Pie, which provides bilingual resources to help Hispanic and Latino youth manage their finances; and The Village for Families and Children, which offers financial education through coaching, budget boot camps, and community wellness events. 

Erwin Hurst, business navigator for International Hartford said the need was visible at the nonprofit's recent financial literacy class.

“We had a young mother who cried because she said that for the longest time, she had been hearing people use the phrase ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps,’ and she said that she actually never had the boots or the straps to pull herself up,” he said. 

Hurst said participants in these courses can envision a different path for their lives and see a brighter future for themselves and their children. 

“Due to a variety of economic factors, Latinos have significantly lower household wealth and savings compared to non-Hispanic white Americans,” Larson said in a press release. “We must do more to improve financial literacy, so everyone has the tools they need to get ahead."

He said the Hispanic Federation is a great group to lead the new initiative.

"I cannot think of a better organization than the Hispanic Federation to lead this multilingual, multi-generational financial education initiative with four great organizations who work directly in the community to expand opportunity for Hartford residents," Larson said.