The Center for Economic Empowerment and Development (CEED) is proud to announce the receipt of a generous grant from the Women's Giving Circle of Cumberland County, a fund of Cumberland Community Foundation, Inc. 

This funding will enable CEED to expand its financial literacy program, focusing on women and children, to create systemic change in the lives of families in our community.

CEED is dedicated to empowering women and the disadvantaged in the community through financial literacy education and small business entrepreneurial training. Their team is currently attending over 60 hours of training to become Certified Financial Educators. This certification ensures that staff can provide high-quality financial literacy education tailored to the needs of the diverse community. Not only will their team become certified, but will need to remain certified by maintaining updated certifications and training throughout the year. This means the community will receive accredited training by certified professionals.

The Women's Giving Circle of Cumberland County is strategic in supporting programs that directly impact women and children, making this partnership a perfect match. For over a year, CEED has been conducting a pilot financial literacy program accessing the needs and desires of the community. What they found was a need for  a better program that could address the needs of the community and track outcomes. The grant from the Women’s Giving Circle of

Cumberland County has provided the funding required to begin this next phase of program development.

"We are excited to receive this grant from the Women's Giving Circle of Cumberland County," said Suzy Hrabovsky, Executive Director at CEED, in a press release. "This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission to empower women through education. We believe that financial literacy is a crucial skill for economic empowerment. The support of the Women's Giving Circle helps us continue to assist women [to] gain the knowledge and confidence they need to take control of their financial futures. With this support, we can build a robust financial literacy program that truly meets the needs of our community."

The financial literacy program is being developed with direct input from the community. CEED is sending out surveys to gather feedback from community partners and residents, ensuring that the program is tailored to meet their specific needs.

CEED asks that individuals share their ideas about what they want in a financial literacy program by filling out the survey here: COMMUNITY SURVEY

They are also seeking  feedback from local community partners, so if your organization or business would like to give feedback on the needs of your employees, residents or participants of other programs, use the following link: PARTNER SURVEY

This collaborative approach will help create a program that is not only educational but also practical and relevant to the participants' everyday lives.