It can be hard to make sense of your dollars and cents, particularly if you've never learned about maintaining a household budget, building up a nest egg, or improving your credit score.
Peoria's Busey Bank Bridge Center seeks to serve as a hub for all things financial literacy. Vice president of community banking Luisa Gomes and engagement manager Cesar Vargas are two of the faces you'll see at 2120 SW Adams, formerly the home of South Side Bank.
The programming at the Bridge Center is offered free of charge.
Sometimes, people need help accessing something as basic as a savings account. Gomes said the Bridge Checking and Savings Account is a zero-fee service that seeks to remove barriers.
"It's perfect for someone who might have had a relationship with a financial institution previously, that didn't work out, or you may not have ever had one and use check cashing places," she said.
Gomes said the Bridge Center also teaches the basics of budgeting and building up savings. She said people might not start off with reserving 10% to 20% of their income for savings, but it can start with something as simple as forgoing a cup of coffee from the gas station.
"It could start off with $5, it could start off with $10. It doesn't have to be that big chunk, and just those little bit of increments, they start to add up. And then eventually, you are able to do more percentage, things of that nature," Gomes said.
Vargas said many people he works with often say creating a budget is too complicated or they don't have time. But he said it starts to click once they actually sit down and begin taking a look at their spending and income.
"We start to see where the pitfalls are and stuff like that. So it's really good to have them sit down and visualize and see where things are going and where things are coming from," Vargas said.
Other common topics include improving credit scores, or how to prepare to buy a home or start a small business. Gomes said the Bridge Center is open to anyone, including undocumented people.
"The one thing that I think that stands out about what we do is that we're like, hey, we're here, come and see us. Let's have these conversations. And don't feel any shame. Taking away that shame, taking away that uncertainness. Saying, hey, everybody has to start somewhere. And no matter where you are, in your journey, we're here to help," she said.
You can read more about the Busey Bank Bridge Center in this month's edition of the Community Word newspaper.
