Saint Paul, Minnesota MENU SEARCH TRANSLATE MISSION & VALUES PROGRAMS NEWS & RESEARCH MEET THE OFE TEAM COMMON TERMS OFFICE OF FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT Saint Paul established the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) in 2019 because economic inequality is a whole-city crisis that demands a whole-city response. OFE coordinates that response in partnership with community leaders, businesses and nonprofits, and low-income Saint Paul residents. (Pictured: The O’Brien family visits Saint Paul’s Landmark Center.) We are investing in our shared future. At the Office of Financial Empowerment, we measure our city’s prosperity across generations. Decades of deliberately harmful choices, from redlining to the path of I-94, have stripped wealth and opportunity from our Black, Indigenous, immigrant and refugee communities. Today, OFE is working deliberately to help a new generation of Saint Paul residents repair those generational injustices and build equitable economic power for decades to come. Saint Paul welcomes every new baby to our city with $50 for college — a small but powerful investment in each child’s boundless potential — through the CollgeBound program. Saint Paul also gives families in the People’s Prosperity guaranteed income pilot $500 every month, no strings attached, because we believe in their future and their children’s. Every dollar we invest in Saint Paul residents is an act of faith in the just and abundant future we are all creating together. Find more information about OFE’s programs, team members, and more below. Mission Results Framework Child Tax Credit Information This year, as part of the American Rescue Plan, the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) is significantly increased and half of it will be available through direct monthly payments. Learn more about the Federal Child Tax Credit OFE Programs CollegeBound Saint Paul CollegeBound Saint Paul provides every baby living in the city of Saint Paul starting on January 1, 2020 a college savings account opened with $50. Contact: collegebound@ci.stpaul.mn.us or 651-266-8829. Visit collegeboundstp.com People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot The People’s Prosperity Pilot launched in fall 2020 and provides 150 randomly selected CollegeBound Saint Paul families with a $500 unrestricted monthly cash transfers for 18 months, and the CollegeBound child will receive an additional $10 per month in their college savings account. This initiative is part of a larger national network called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. Contact: Prosperity@ci.stpaul.mn.us or 651-266-8680. Learn more about the Pilot Fair Housing Fair Housing goals include increasing housing access; decreasing housing displacement; and affirmatively furthering fair housing. Returning Home Saint Paul: A Beyond Backgrounds Program Returning Home Saint Paul increases housing access for residents returning to Saint Paul from incarceration. This is a partnership with Housing Link and Ujamaa Place. The program launched in November 2020. Learn more about Returning Home Saint Paul Concerned resident on the phone FRAUDULENT IMMIGRATION SERVICES CAMPAIGN In partnership with the Immigrant and Refugee Program in the City Attorney’s Office, OFE is launching the Fraudulent Immigration Services Campaign, which will provide Saint Paul community members with information on immigration scams. This awareness campaign is financially supported by the Local Consumer Financial Protection Initiative at the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. LEARN MORE OFE News and Research Route Fifty: Why One City is Prioritizing Financial Empowerment St. Paul, Minnesota created a city office that aims to lift up residents who are struggling the most, while also addressing the ways city penalties might be keeping them down. READ ARTICLE ON ROUTE-FIFTY.COM Next City: St. Paul’s Poverty Fighting Office Going Strong During Covid-19 Despite the COVID-19 induced financial crisis, which has led to Carter’s proposed 2021 budget calling for vast cuts across almost all departments, the Office of Financial Empowerment will continue on, thanks to its efficacy at bringing in outside funding. READ ARTICLE ON NEXTCITY.ORG Star Tribune: St. Paul guaranteed income helps families of color Muneer Karcher-Ramos, St. Paul director of the Office of Financial Empowerment, shared the overview of the People’s Prosperity Pilot on Tuesday. He emphasized that the goal is not to make this a permanent city aid program, but to see if the idea can help shape the national debate about assisting low-income residents. READ ARTICLE ON STARTRIBUNE.COM Star Tribune: Twitter CEO boosts guaranteed income programs in St. Paul Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is donating $15 million to programs across the country, the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income group announced Tuesday. More than two dozen mayors are participating in the group, including Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. READ ARTICLE ON STARTRIBUNE.COM Time: MLK Had a Dream of Guaranteed Income. As Mayors of 11 Cities, We Are Bringing That Dream to Life King’s economic dream was the most direct – a guaranteed income for all Americans. This week, more than 50 years later and against a similar backdrop of racial and economic unrest, we mayors are bringing that dream to life. READ ON TIME.COM NLC: How the City of Saint Paul is using strategic partnerships to fight hunger in a pandemic AS cities across the country worked quickly to respond to their residents’ needs, the City of Saint Paul and Mayor Melvin Carter realized that food insecurity needed to be a priority. READ ARTICLE ON NLC.ORG Meet the OFE Team Muneer Karcher-Ramos, Director “The racial wealth gap is not a thing that was created overnight. It’s a set of historical processes that will take time to reimagine and reconfigure and disrupt, so more folks can experience the economic and social benefits of the city." Muneer Karcher-Ramos (he/him/él) is the inaugural Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment at the City of Saint Paul. He specializes in community- and culturally-valued approaches to working with communities who have historically experienced structural, systemic, and public disinvestment, which has often rendered these communities invisible. Prior to his current role, he was the director of the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood, a cross-sector cradle-to-career education initiative focused on culturally-responsive approaches. He is currently a community faculty member in the Social Justice Minor at the University of Minnesota and a Fellow at the Cultural Wellness Center. He lives in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul with his partner and their three children. Kasey Wiedrich, Financial Capability Manager “Some of the things the City has been doing are really different relationships with residents than the City has played in the past outside of just taxes and fees. We have put money back into people’s pockets directly.” Kasey Wiedrich (she/her) is the Financial Capability Manager with the City of Saint Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment. In her role, she works to integrate wrap around services into the City’s children’s savings account program, CollegeBound Saint Paul. Prior to joining OFE in 2020, Kasey was the Director of Applied Research at Prosperity Now in Washington, DC, where she managed the Prosperity Now Scorecard—a state-by-state assessment of how families are faring and the strength of state policies—and conducted research on household financial security and effective practices to build financial capability and wealth. Ikram Koliso, CollegeBound Program Manager “With CollegeBound, we’re connecting people to early childhood and financial wellbeing services in Saint Paul, which is helping build their child’s wellbeing. Being able to bring different institutions together that don’t normally talk to one another in the same room is really helpful.” Ikram Koliso (she/her) helped with the design, implementation and launch of CollegeBound Saint Paul, the City’s college savings account program, and currently serves as the program manager. She previously served as a Policy Associate in Mayor Melvin Carter’s Office, as an Urban Scholar in the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet in the Office of former Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith, as well as has completed field work at Hennepin County and Allina Health – United Hospital. Ikram is passionate about the process of engaging communities around issues that impact them directly to ensure their voices are centered in the policies and programs designed. She received her degree from St. Catherine University in Saint Paul. Kirstin Burch, Fair Housing Coordinator “OFE has really leaned deeply into trying to address the unintended consequences of maintaining the status quo.” Kirstin Burch (she/her) joined the City of Saint Paul in March 2019 as the Fair Housing Coordinator in the Office of Financial Empowerment. In her role, she works to affirmatively further fair housing with a focus on decreasing housing displacement and increasing housing access. Previously, Kirstin served as the director of a local housing nonprofit, ZOOM House, bringing experience in nonprofit leadership, culturally inclusive relationship building, and community engagement. Kirstin is passionate about holistic, community-driven solutions to housing and economic stability. Currently, she serves as a board member for Homeline Minnesota. Kirstin is a native of Saint Paul’s Frogtown, currently residing in Ward 6 with her 3 children. Katrina Mendoza, CollegeBound Outreach and Engagement Coordinator Katrina Mendoza (she/ella) is the Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for CollegeBound Saint Paul. When she is not in community spaces sharing the benefits of CollegeBound or supporting the cohort of 27 Community Ambassadors she sits on the board of her district council at West Side Community Organization where she was elected West Sider of the Year in 2018 for her anti-displacement work. She also has spearheaded an initiative with Libraries Without Borders to bring community resources to her local laundromat and currently co-facilitates a Black Indigenous Womxn of Color cohort in her community. Katrina takes pride in her work for, in and alongside her beloved West Side community. She is striving to become a person her ancestors would be proud of. Jack Smyth, People’s Prosperity Pilot Program Consultant “We realize that the government can’t predict what happens in a family’s life. We’re hoping that in the future, both in Saint Paul and across the country, that the idea of giving a guaranteed income to families directly – and trusting in them – allows them the flexibility to make the best decisions for them.” Jack Smyth (he/him) joined the City of Saint Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment in August 2019 as an AmeriCorps VISTA Member. During his VISTA year of service, he helped design, develop, and implement the Neighbors Helping Neighbors volunteer initiative. Jack transitioned to his current role as People’s Prosperity Pilot Program Consultant in September 2020 to help develop the City’s guaranteed income pilot. This included helping to recruit and enroll the 150 families into the pilot. He continues to help maintain the pilot and provides ongoing support to pilot participants. Common Financial Empowerment Terms Economic Democracy Shared Prosperity Financial Health Community Wealth Last Edited: November 1, 2021 CollegeBound Saint Paul - Mother and Child Contact Us Contact information: Office of Financial Empowerment 700 City Hall, 15 West Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul, MN 55102 Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Office is currently working virtually, not working on site Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTACT THE CITY Email Us Contact the City’s Call Center by sending an email. Call 651-266-8989 For non-emergency information. 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