Saint Paul Selected for Inaugural Cohort to Expand Local Emergency Response Plan

SAINT PAUL – Today, Saint Paul was selected as one of four municipalities to take part in an inaugural cohort aimed at expanding emergency preparedness plans. The national nonprofit Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) launched its Emergency Financial Empowerment (EFE) initiative to assist local governments with building and expanding their emergency preparedness and response infrastructure to better support the individual and family financial needs of their residents. 

“Preparation for disasters and emergencies requires us to be ready for all outcomes, especially the financial disruption and distress they cause,” said Mayor Melvin Carter. “Integrating financial stability into our emergency preparedness efforts better equips our residents to address these challenges while protecting household finances and ensuring recovery is attainable for all.” 

The goal of the program is to provide residents with more streamlined access to financial support resources. Through the EFE initiative, the city will receive technical assistance from the CFE Fund on connecting financial empowerment supports to emergency response procedures, which can range from individual financial counseling to prepare for emergencies to helping residents navigate requirements across federal grant and loan applications after a disaster. 

"Emergency Management is all in on integrating financial preparedness into our city’s emergency plans—before, during, and after disasters. Building financial resilience helps ensure every resident can recover and thrive, especially those who face greater challenges," said Rick Schute, Director of Emergency Management for the City of Saint Paul. 

The EFE initiative represents a new partnership between the Emergency Management and Office of Financial Empowerment, bringing a financial stability lens to emergency preparedness and recovery. This collaboration will help ensure residents from across the city can access these supports, including those zip codes and populations who have historically been disconnected from city services and thus are more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters. 

“Disasters can exacerbate existing income disparities, hitting vulnerable households even harder,” said Ikram Koliso, Interim Director of the Office of Financial Services. “I am grateful for the chance to highlight our city’s dedication to economic justice and our strategic plan for systemic change through this initiative.” 

The CFE Fund engagement is supported by a $150,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies as part of their Greenwood Initiative, a philanthropic effort that aims to accelerate the pace of wealth accumulation for Black individuals and families and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities.  

“Financial stability is foundational to preparing for and recovering from an emergency, and the CFE Fund is thrilled to work together with Mayor Carter’s administration to ensure Saint Paul and other local governments can incorporate the array of public and community financial empowerment resources to support individual and family finances for emergencies,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “Thanks to generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, this new Emergency Financial Empowerment initiative will help Saint Paul residents better prepare for and recover from unexpected disasters.” 

In addition to Saint Paul, Dallas, Texas; Gainesville, Florida; Rochester, New York; and St. Louis, Missouri, were chosen competitively for the inaugural EFE cohort. Saint Paul and other grantees were selected for their demonstrated interest in identifying the role of local emergency management in household financial resilience. 

“When communities experience natural disasters, the financial, housing, and job stability of its residents are all simultaneously tested. This burden has a greater effect on the most vulnerable families,” said Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative. “That’s why local strategies to combat disaster-induced financial inequity are so critical. Through this partnership, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund will create opportunities to significantly strengthen local emergency responses and prepare our communities in a way that centers underserved residents.” 

ABOUT THE CITIES FOR FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FUND 
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. The EFE initiative draws on the CFE Fund’s extensive programmatic work over almost a decade with local government leaders in over 100 cities and counties, connecting critical on-the-ground insights about the impact of financial instability on families, communities, and municipal budgets with tangible, measurable, and sustainable municipal strategies to improve families' financial lives. The EFE initiative grows particularly from the CFE Fund’s COVID-era Financial Navigators program; over 26,400 client sessions, the initiative helped residents in 31 localities individually navigate the array of local, state, and federal resources made available during the crisis.  The CFE Fund has disbursed over $66 million in grant support to municipal partners. For more information, please visit www.cfefund.org or follow us on Twitter at @CFEFund. 

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