Financial Navigator Program Comes to Tulsa

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has touched every sector and every community in Tulsa. We are doing everything we can to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic and this includes supporting Tulsans as some experience financial instability and crisis.
For this reason, in August, the City of Tulsa, in partnership with Goodwill Industries of Tulsa, launched a Financial Navigator program to help triage residents needing financial advice to services available to them. In partnership with the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, our navigators now provide one-on-one assistance to residents over the phone at no cost. When residents setup an appointment, a navigator will help them identify immediate action steps needed to manage expenses, maximize income and realize other services available to them.
Tulsa residents can now access and prioritize their financial concerns and get connected with the right resources because of this partnership. Financial navigators are trained facilitators that know of resources Tulsans can use to get assistance.
Since the program’s launch, many residents have called with questions on housing, such as evictions, rental assistance, mortgage assistance and utility assistance. Some are even calling to see where their next meal will come from, which oftentimes, navigators are able to help them find the nearest food pantry.
We are grateful we were able to leverage our partnership with the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to bring the Financial Navigator program to Tulsa. This program is a key part of our emergency response and aligns with our citywide goal to improve the overall financial health and resilience of our residents.
Additionally, the fund has already partnered with the city and Goodwill Industries of Tulsa to launch the city’s first Financial Empowerment Center in late 2020. This center, though not directly tied to the pandemic, will also help provide no cost, one-on-one financial counseling to residents who need it.
As we look forward, the only way our city can continue to grow and foster healthy financial households is to help stabilize and empower our residents with financial services. Household financial stability and financial resilience is a key driver in closing the life expectancy gap in Tulsa. When Tulsans have access to programs like these, it most certainly provides needed support for those in some of the most uncertain times in our recent history.
To learn more and to request a virtual appointment with a financial navigator, search “Financial Empowerment” in the search bar at www.cityoftulsa.org. If you don’t have internet access, you can call 211 who can help you fill out the request form over the phone. Once the forms are received, a local Financial Navigator will call you within 48 hours to begin your personal session.