Bold Economic Advocacy Program

Bold Economic Advocacy (BE A) Change Project

Welcome to the Be A Change resource page! Connect to a range of intentionally selected survivor-centered economic advocacy links, tools, and videos below!

BE A Change Project is the anchor project of our Economic Advocacy and Justice Program. We provide:

Funding;
Customized Technical Program Assistance;
Training/Workshops; and,
Creative Content and Media Production

to stengthen economic advocacy work at DV agencies and community-based orgs across North Carolina.

What started as a program focused on addressing financial abuse through financial literacy, has grown into a program focused on holistic approaches for improving the economic reality for DV victims and survivors. Our intention is to support DV agencies and community organizations with designing and implementing economic advocacy projects that strengthen short- and long- term economic stability for DV survivors and their communities.

Email economicadvocacy@nccadv.org to connect and build our violence-free & interdependent economic future!

Project Funders:

BEA Change Project Parts:

Understanding the Personal Finance Ecosystem

"The Personal Finance Ecosystem is a visual roadmap that lays out the foundations that underpin an individual’s state of financial well-being. It was developed by NEFE to demonstrate financial education’s role in an individual’s financial well-being and within the broader environment."

NEFE Personal Finance Ecosystem Narrative V3

Read more about the version 3 of the ecosystem here: The Personal Finance Ecosystem (from NEFE)

Financial Education Funding

We fund financial education work with the Moving Ahead Through Financial Empowerment grant. Visit the Moving Ahead website to learn more about finncial abuse and what you can do to protect yourself , access the curriculum, and register for their free and open webinars.

Screen_Shot_2022-02-03_at_2.00.44_PM.png You can also REGISTER for the FREE Train the Trainer Video series hosted by NNEDV and Allstate.

Curriculums available in ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH, and VIETNAMESE.

Consumer Rights Advocacy

We partner with Center for Survivor Agency and Justice (CSAJ) to provide technical assistance and host advocacy trainings that help build the non-lawyer advocate toolbox for addressing consumer rights issues of DV victims and survivors. Visit CSAJ's consumer right advocacy page to learn more about their work.

Connect to one of their latest offerings: Enroll in the ACCESS eCourse

Paid Family Leave Health Impact Assessment

We are collaborating with our Prevention team to assess the public health and economic impact of access to paid family leave. Learn more about the policy-based advocacy work we're doing with NC Families Care Coalition and visit the CDC DELTA site

Financial Healing + Economic Advocacy

We produce, co-host, and lead workshops and trainings that introduce participants to economic and healing justice frameworks and practices. Check our Events Page to find news about upcoming economic advocacy-related events.

Check out our latest healing justice resource:

Empowered and In Control: 8 Tactics for Healing from Financial Abuse. A 20-page zine based on the 2-day training created in collaboration with Money Witch.

Flexible Funding: A Framework for survivor-centered direct cash programming

Created by FreeFrom

Trust Survivors: How to Build an Effective and Inclusive Cash Assistance Program, compiles data and stories from 1,000 survivors about how to make cash assistance work for them.

Teen Economic Abuse:

Read more about Teen Economic Abuse

Navigating Debt

A leading resource for over 25 years, this fully updated, 2021 edition of Surviving Debt provides precise, practical, and hard-hitting advice from the nation’s consumer law experts on how to deal with crushing debt affecting millions of Americans. Surviving Debt tells you what consumers need to know about: Stopping Debt Harassment; Dealing with Credit Card, Medical, and Student Loan Debts; Which Debts to Pay First; Essential Information about Credit Reports; Vehicle Repossessions and Utility Terminations; Dealing Effectively with Your Mortgage Servicer, Mortgage Loan Modifications, and Saving Your Home from Foreclosure; Property Taxes and Tax Sales; Evictions and Getting Out of a Lease and much more. New to the 2021 edition, Surviving Debt includes consumer rights arising from the COVID-19 pandemic relating to home mortgages, landlord-tenant law, utilities, and student loans.

Screen Shot 2021 01 27 at 3.19.20 PM

Medical Debt: At Dollar For, our biggest effort is expressed in our Debt Forgiveness program, in which we enforce the hospital’s Charity Care policies. In order for hospitals to keep their nonprofit status, they have to have programs in place that aid families without incomes large enough to cover their medical expenses, called Charity Care.

Medical Debt: Charity care is defined as services provided free of charge or at a substantial discount. Please consult directly with your hospital to learn more about its financial assistance policies. For consumers’ convenience, NCHA provides links to each hospital’s financial assistance policy and community benefit report here.

All debt: Connect with a community of debtors sharing tips, experiences, and strategies for debt forgiveness and cancellation.

Economic Justice in Indian Country (from NPQ)

The Status of Women in NC -

Learn more about the economic status is NC women

ECONOMIC ADVOCACY RESOURCE LINKS for ALL

For Advocates:

For All:

Independence Project (NNEDV) - Credit Repair through Micro Loans

The Independence Project, a credit building program of The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), was established in partnership with Verizon and with seed funding from Thirty-One Gifts, and is supported in part by generous funding from The Allstate Foundation. Through the Independence Project, advocates and local domestic violence programs across the nation can support survivors of domestic violence in improving their credit scores through micro-lending. Visit their website for more info.

FinAbility - A survivor-centered designed online resource to financially empower survivors of domestic abuse.

Get your free Annual Credit Report! Credit reports matter. Reviewing credit reports helps you catch signs of identity theft early. Federal law allows you to: get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company; and ensure that the information on all of your credit reports is correct and up to date.

Tax Help

Survivors and Taxes - Frequently Asked Questions (Apr. 2020)

GetYourRefund.org or Tax Outreach: free tax preparation services.

211: This hotline service from United Way connects people to local resources for support. It can answer basic questions about the CTC and direct callers to any free tax filing services.

ChildTaxCredit.com This website features FAQs and a wonderful CTC eligibility calculator that can help people understand how much they can get from the credit.