SparkPoint Oakland: Financial & Workforce Services
EBALDC assists families and individuals in stabilizing their financial situations and developing asset-building tools. We work with a variety of partners, including the United Way of the Bay Area, as the lead agency for the SparkPoint Oakland Center.
The SparkPoint model integrates financial coaching with workforce development and education outcomes to generate long-term financial success. Financial services through SparkPoint Oakland include:
Financial Counseling & Coaching:
One-on-one assistance with budgeting, saving, goal setting, debt reduction, and improving credit based on the clients’ specific needs and circumstances. We often include incentive-based products, such as matched savings accounts, to encourage positive savings habits.
Income Support Services:
Support for seeking and gaining employment, maintaining public benefits, and receiving tax returns that supplement incomes. We work with local workforce partners, such as the West Oakland Jobs Resource Center, to bolster these efforts. Our IRS-backed Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) is an important and highly impactful poverty-alleviation tool, paired with a Savings Initiative that encourages clients to save a portion of their refund. Since 2003, EBALDC helped to return more than $14 million in federal and state refunds to the community.
