Partners in Housing helps families get back on their feet this Financial Literacy Month

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A local non-profit organization is working with Colorado Springs families struggling financially.

For Financial Literacy Month, Partners in Housing and Eastern Colorado Bank are working to train and teach money management and personal finances to individuals.

Jillian Birchmeier with Partners in Housing says the non-profit helps about 120 families a year get back on their feet. Last year, Partners in Housing says they had an 87% success rate in helping families gain safe and stable housing.

"Families that are in housing crisis come to us, we provide them with a year of housing and a lot of supportive services," added Birchmeier.

According to the non-profit, the majority of the families in the program are led by single moms.

Partners in Housing teaches individuals to set aside roughly 30% of their monthly income for housing and also be consistent with their paid-on-time history. Birchmeier says getting into the habit of saving a set amount of money a month will help people be more secure in their finances and more stable once leaving the program.

The non-profit says its ability to help the community is made possible through the help of money mentors. Currently, Partners in Housing has 12 money mentors, two of them are from Eastern Colorado Bank. Those volunteers help individuals with budgeting and provide credit counseling through one-on-one monthly sessions.

"We kind of go over financial budgeting with individuals who are in that program so they can see where they are and what that looks like on a monthly basis and how we can help them save a little money as well while they are in that program," added money mentor with Eastern Colorado Bank, Patricia Kessack.

Right now, the demand for help is bigger than ever and it's mostly in part due to their success rate.

According to Partners in Housing, 76% of the families they helped not only overcame their homelessness but also improved their income during their time in the program.