Fresh Start Banking
Fresh Start Banking
Mentorship Program
powered by Element Federal Credit Union
Message From Our Founder
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Dear friends,
First Step Alliance is pleased to present our 2024 Impact Report, highlighting a year of accomplishments in advancing our mission to improve access to affordable financial services and education for justice-involved individuals. We extend our deepest gratitude to our Board of Trustees, Officers, Advisory Council members, interns, and other volunteers, whose dedication and expertise are the foundation of our continued success.
In 2024, we continued to build program partnerships with reentry organizations and government agencies to reach those in need. In addition to expanding our Fresh Start Financial Education & Banking Programs, this year marked the launch of our new entrepreneurship initiative in partnership with Harvard Law School, SCORE, the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizens, and other community organizations. Fresh Start Entrepreneurship equips individuals with the essential information and mentorship needed to start a new business.
We also reached several milestones in our efforts to create a first-of-its-kind financial institution for formerly incarcerated individuals—a not-for-profit credit union bringing affordable financial services to thousands of community members.
Many thanks to all for your generous grants and donations that help support First Step Alliance and financial inclusion for justice-involved people.
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With gratitude,
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​Nancy Eiden
Founder & Board Chair
First Step Alliance
First Step Alliance
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Helping People Take the First Step to Financial Freedom
Our Programs
​Fresh Start Financial Education
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​First Step Alliance provides justice-involved individuals access to a free online financial education learning program that includes many important topics to help improve their financial health. Certified credit counselors work one-on-one with community members to help them overcome financial challenges. This program is designed to accommodate a wide range of people, regardless of financial acumen or learning style. We reach incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, and secure learning platforms:
Fresh Start Financial Education includes:
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Free online financial education learning program to help people develop responsible money management habits and build credit.
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On-demand learning in both English and Spanish through a smartphone, computer, or tablet.
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Designed to accommodate all levels of financial acumen.
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Many ways to learn: e-books, interactive courses, videos, webinars, podcasts, and games.
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Certificates of completion for each course completed.
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Free one-on-one financial coaching by certified credit counselors in English and Spanish.​
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Fresh Start Entrepreneurship
Fresh Start Entrepreneurship & Financial Capabilities is a collaboration among several entities with a shared goal of promoting economic empowerment for justice-involved individuals. We launched this program in Boston in partnership with Harvard Law School, the City of Boston Mayor's Office of Returning Citizens, and SCORE, resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration and mentor to America's small businesses.
This year we held our first two cohorts and more than 80 justice-involved people from the greater Boston area applied to the program.
Program Goals
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​Fresh Start Entrepreneurship aims to provide justice-involved individuals with the education, mentoring, and legal assistance they need to start and run their own business. The program's unique curriculum combines entrepreneurship training and money management skill development with individual coaching by experienced business mentors, certified financial coaches, and instructors with lived experience. To help remove barriers to mainstream banking and build credit, participants have access to an affordable bank account and free credit counseling services. Program graduates may also be eligible for a micro-grant to help them get started. Business ownership represents an alternative path to income and wealth creation opportunities for justice-involved individuals.
Fresh Start Entrepreneurship helps people turn their ideas into reality by providing essential business training, personal finance knowledge, individual mentoring, and access to affordable banking products and credit-building resources.
What People Are Saying
"This kind of training program helps people who are at the very beginning of dreaming about their business. They’re just starting to figure out, how do I do this on a larger scale? How do I make this a sustainable income source for myself?"
--- Carmen Halford
Harvard Law School, TLC
Program Partner
Fresh Start Banking
Millions of justice-involved people continue to be shut out of mainstream banking, can have their bank accounts suddenly closed, and are credit invisible, forcing them to rely on high-cost, often predatory providers.
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While we continue our efforts to start a new credit union for justice-involved individuals, we make affordable banking available to community members through our collaboration with an established federal credit union. The Dora Financial mobile banking program is convenient and easy-to-use, and is available for download on an iPhone or Android in English and Spanish. First Step Alliance works with our community partners to make this program available to justice-involved people. ​​​​​​​​​​​​
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Dora Financial includes the following features:
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​​No-minimum, no-credit check, no-fee checking account
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Visa debit card
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Direct deposit of paycheck or government benefits
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Thousands of fee-free ATMs across the country
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Mobile deposit of checks
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Cash deposits through ATMs
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2-day early payday with direct deposit
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Credit builder product ​
Fresh Start Banking serves as a pathway to credit union membership, helping people qualify for additional financial products in the future.
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Thought Leadership: Building Community Awareness
We continued building awareness through our advocacy work, participation on panels, and articles on important reentry topics including:
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First Step Alliance has also written about criminal justice reform initiatives and efforts to reduce recidivism in other countries. Leveraging our Google Ads grant, these articles have increased our organization’s visibility and website traffic to 10,000 unique visitors per month:
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What We Can Learn From Norway's Prison System (142,000 views)
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Reducing Recidivism: Creating a Path to Successful Reentry (51,000 views)
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The First Step Act - What Is It And How Does It Affect The Justice System? (17,000 views)
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Restorative Justice: Breaking the Cycle of Crime (17,000 views)
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Our work has been featured in several prominent publications, including the Wall Street Journal, American Banker, Business Insider, and Credit Union Times, and most recently, in Harvard Law Today's article From Incarceration to Entrepreneurship.
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Earlier this year, we led a panel discussion on “Impactful Partnerships Serving the Justice-involved Community” at the Inclusiv (New York-based CDFI) annual conference which included over 700 participants. Following this event, we formed a coalition of credit unions to address financial inclusion for justice-involved populations across the country. Several credit unions have joined and we will continue expanding this initiative in 2025.
Looking Ahead – 2025
​Our Fresh Start Programs have reached many formerly incarcerated individuals through partnerships with community organizations and government agencies, We are currently working with several technology companies to make these educational resources available on tablets to incarcerated individuals. In addition to expanding our partnerships and increasing the number of program cohorts during 2025, we will continue our efforts to launch a new credit union for formerly incarcerated people. ​​
​Where We Are Today
Our Proposed Federal Credit Union will provide a financial home for community members and their families, offering access to a wide array of affordable financial products and services. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) approved our request to move forward with a new charter application and First Step Alliance is the approved Membership Association.
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The credit union organizers have broad support from regulators, Congressional members, the credit union industry, and community organizations. Many have signed on to a Letter of Support to demonstrate their commitment and interest in this initiative. The next step is to implement a fundraising strategy to secure the initial regulatory capital and startup funds needed to operationalize the credit union. The goal is to open the credit union in 2026.
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Acknowledgements
First Step Alliance is committed to financial inclusion for justice-involved individuals. By working toward a more equitable and accessible financial system, our goal is to help our community members rebuild their lives, and achieve financial stability and economic mobility.
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the following organizations for their generous grants:​
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Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union
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City of Boston - Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizens
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Financial Health Network
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Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund
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Live Life Fully Foundation (US Alliance Financial)
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PSE&G
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The Robert & Maurine Rothschild Fund
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Robert Half Foundation
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Walmart
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...and to the many community members, friends, families, and allies who donate their time, treasure, and talent to help improve the financial lives of justice-involved individuals.​
"Dreaming after incarceration can be difficult. The Fresh Start program helped me out in way you couldn't imagine. My vision widened, and I decided I wanted to open a CDL driving school. Fresh Start helped me put that business plan into action.”
--- Wayne Lane
Owner at Switching Lanes
Program Graduate
Program Impact
PEOPLE REACHED
150 Program Participants
COURSES COMPLETED
650 Certificates of Completion
PARTNERSHIPS
15 Community Organizations
Thank you for your support!