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Health & Fitness

CCCS of MD & DE CELEBRATES 47 YEARS OF SERVICE: Despite Growth and Change Its Mission Remains the Same

47 years ago local nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service of MD & DE (CCCS) began serving the community. In celebration, staff members reflect on CCCS's history and vision for the future.

This month represents an important milestone for local nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Maryland and Delaware (CCCS).  Exactly forty seven years ago, the agency opened its doors and began serving the local community.  In celebration of this anniversary, staff members recently reflected on CCCS’s history, current practices, and vision for the future.  Each brought his or her own unique perspective, but when describing the agency, most seemed to share a common view.  Supervisor of Client Services Ginger Meyers, who joined CCCS 33 years ago at age 17, says it all comes down to one word:  “Hope. When people come to us for help, they may need different pieces of financial information or to learn different personal finance skills.  We help them take a look at where they stand and gain the education they need. But more importantly, we give them hope and a plan they can use for years to come.”    

According to CCCS President and CEO Jim Godfrey, the agency began when a group of local community and business leaders, creditors, government representatives, and educators got together and decided there needed to be a place where people experiencing financial stress could come to gain information and resolve their money problems for increased financial security.  CCCS became that place.  “Our original state charter emphasized that we are here to help people take control of their financial destinies through education and counseling.  Although the scope of our services has broadened, our mission has stayed the same.”

CCCS started as a single office serving the Baltimore metropolitan area, but soon grew.  By the late-80’s, the agency had branches ringing the Baltimore beltway, on the Eastern Shore, and in Wilmington and Dover.  Nina Heck, who joined CCCS in 1987 and currently serves as its Director of Counseling and Client Management, laughs when she recalls this phase:  “Back then, all our counseling was done face-to-face at one of the local offices and all the account information was written by hand.  In the Bel Air branch we had two phones -- a black one for local calls and a red one for Baltimore calls. I used to refer to the red phone as the ‘Bat’ phone.  We’ve made great strides since that time.”

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As client and creditor needs changed, CCCS evolved to meet these needs.  Director of Payroll and Accounting Pat McGee says advances in technology have helped the agency stay responsive.  “CCCS has always been an agency that strives to improve people’s lives,” she notes.  “Advances in communications, software, and online technologies have allowed us to cast a much wider net.  Phone counseling and the Internet have made it possible for us to counsel people across the nation.  We now serve clients from Alaska to Florida.”

Brenda Goodwin, a 38-year veteran with CCCS who now serves as its Director of Creditor Relations and DMS Support, says the agency’s client base has changed in the past few years.  “Our clients are more financially sophisticated than ever.  A few years ago, many people came to us with money problems due to overspending. The people we see now are often older and more financially educated.  They may even be professionals.  They are generally underfunded due to an economic crisis like job loss or have suffered a financial setback due to something like a severe medical issue.”

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Heck acknowledges this trend and also notes the source of client debt has shifted. “For a long time, clients who came to us were primarily in trouble due to credit use.  They often had a host of credit cards all charged to the max.  Now there’s more student loan debt than credit card debt.  We see graduates who’ve taken out large loans to pay for their education, but who can’t find jobs that pay enough so they can live and repay what they owe.  We also see parents who’ve co-signed on their children’s loans.  When these students leave school and can’t find jobs, they often move back home.  Their parents may then suddenly encounter money problems or foreclosure, because they can’t make ends meet, support their children, and cover their student loans.” 

Over the last decade, CCCS has expanded its services.  As a HUD-approved housing agency, it offers free foreclosure prevention counseling and education as well as pre-purchase and reverse mortgage counseling and workshops.  When the laws changed a few years back requiring that consumers receive counseling and education before filing for or completing personal bankruptcy, CCCS was one of the first 26 agencies certified nationally by EOUST to provide these services. 

CCCS Community Outreach and Communication Manager Deanna Booker believes services like housing counseling enhance the agency’s ability to help clients.  “Today we’re more focused, and we take a much more holistic approach. When we evaluate clients’ situations, we look at the big picture and ask:  ‘How do these clients’ financial beliefs and practices interface with other parts of their lives?  What do they need to learn to become financially literate and economically self-sufficient?  How can the skills they learn now carry into the future?’ We also work with other agencies and businesses to make sure they have access to all the information and resources they need to succeed.”

Throughout CCCS’s history, education has been a cornerstone of what it does.  In 1993, CCCS formed partnerships with the Maryland and Delaware Councils on Economic Education to provide classroom instruction on personal finance. Through these partnerships, the agency has sponsored financial literacy “train-the-trainer” workshops for more than 65,000 teachers. These teachers have provided classroom instruction in financial literacy and basic life skills to more than 6 million children in grades K-12.

In the past few years, CCCS has increased its impact by working closely with many like-minded community groups.  Booker notes, “This emphasis on outreach -- on finding new ways to deliver financial education -- is more important than ever.  It’s something many people still don’t get growing up, and it can lead to lasting results.  During a workshop or counseling session, when we help a person gain the personal finance skills they need, this may also help stabilize a whole community.” 

When asked “What’s the biggest reward you receive working for CCCS,” all the employees polled agreed:  It’s that feeling you get from helping people.  Goodwin explains, “When clients finally pay off all their debts or learn a new skill, they get so excited.  You can’t help but be moved.  With all that’s wrong in the world, for that one moment, you know you’ve made things better.  You’ve made a real difference.”

Going forward, what one word best describes CCCS of Maryland and Delaware?  Resource Development Manager Devon Hyde says it’s “empowerment.”  Hyde who joined CCCS last September, concludes, “We’ve had this same goal for the past 47 years.  Hopefully we’ll have it 47 more.  When we give clients the money management knowledge and skills they need, we help them take control of their lives.  They find a new role. They become their own financial advocates.”

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