Credit Counseling10

Boost for our Heroes is a financial assistance and education program that benefits active, transitioning, and veteran military members and their families. This program provides a variety of workshops, outreach efforts, and one-on-one consultations. The program is designed to help men and women who are experiencing a financial hardship become financially stable.

The SDFLC's education program focuses on seven main topics:
  1. Creating and developing a savings plan
  2. The fundamentals of buying a home
  3. The fundamentals of buying a car
  4. Mastering the transition from military service to civilian life
  5. Civilian workplace readiness
  6. Understanding and utilizing credit
  7. Understanding and utilizing debt management
As the military's presence in San Diego continues to increase, the SDFLC and our community partners have made additional efforts to assist military personnel with financial obstacles such as:
  1. Low pay rates for enlisted military members. The cost of living in San Diego is about 46 percent higher than other military locations throughout the United States.
  2. High rates of unemployment and underemployment while transitioning to civilian life. Transitioning out of the military into civilian life oftentimes results in long periods of unemployment or underemployment for veteran service members. This oftentimes forces service members to increasingly rely on credit cards, payday loans, and other forms of high-interest borrowing.
  3. Predatory lending techniques.

Because of the financial obstacles our military members endure, the San Diego Financial Literacy Center's Boost for our Heroes program also provides a quarterly award of $3,000 to a military member or military family.

In order to qualify for the award, applicants must:
  1. Complete the Smart With Your Money (S.W.Y.M.) Workbook and pass the S.W.Y.M. workbook test
  2. Complete a one-on-one credit counseling session (via phone or in-person) with a certified credit counselor
  3. Attend an SDFLC financial literacy workshop

Once the deadline for the award passes, an impartial panel selects one recipient based on financial hardship and subsequently works with the recipient to develop an integrated financial plan.

Since the Boost for Our Heroes award was first created in 2014, the SDFLC has awarded more than $75,000 to more than 25 servicemembers and their families. Service members from around the United States are encouraged to apply for this quarterly award. If you've applied previously and were not accepted, we encourage you to re-apply as well.

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