Today the City of Lansing celebrated the five-year anniversary of a program that helps gives residents a better financial footing.
The Lansing Office of Financial Empowerment was created in 2013, with help from a Bloomberg Foundation Grant.
It offers free financial counseling services to residents to help them decrease debt, and increase their credit and savings.
During a ceremony at Cooley Law School Stadium clients shared stories on how the program changed their lives.
Angela Castaneda said, "To have somebody sit down and literally tell me to 'look, this is your problem, this is how you fix it. I'm gonna help you do that' was amazing. It worked for me, I have actually several friends that I recommended to the program that have done it successfully."
Since it's inception the city says the program has helped residents eliminate almost $8-million in mortgage debt, and add nearly $700,000 to their savings.
