Page 23 - BusinessWest May 12, 2025

Literacy >>Continued from page 21
it can be very difficult to ask for help. They might be
ashamed,” Moynihan said. “So we move at the speed
of trust. It can take time to build a relationship with
an individual to become comfortable talking about
this.”
The United Way is also part of the Bridges to
Prosperity program through Springfield WORKS, a
state-funded pilot program tasked with overcoming
the ‘cliff effect,’ a phenomenon whereby the increased
income from securing a job isn’t enough to offset pub-
lic benefits while unemployed.
“It’s a first-in-the-nation approach that pairs cash
payments to employed individuals over a two-year
period with financial coaching and workforce training
to bridge the gap between being on state assistance
and being fully, gainfully employed,” Moynihan said.
“We’re not giving you this information
and saying, ‘now go figure it out
yourselves.’ We’re setting you up with
a mentor to walk you through these
programs that will support you not
just in your financial education, but on
everything else that impacts your life.”
younger age for everyone. She’s part of a commit-
tee that has advocated in Boston for state-mandated
financial-literacy education in schools, trying to make
Massachusetts the 27th state to mandate that as a
graduation requirement.
Meanwhile, she added, Country Bank is doing as
much as it can by offering free financial education.
“Even if it’s just one class, these schools love to
partner with us. They feel they’re able to offer some-
thing to students as a benefit. Not all of them have
personal-finance classes,” she said. “So, we’ve done
a lot of programs. We want to provide as many free
resources as we can to the community and guide
them through their financial journey.” BW
“So far, it’s working wonderfully.”
At the same time, the need for financial educa-
tion continues, and Gerulaitis wishes it started at a
Grants >>Continued from page 22
ance,” said David Hopkins, CEO of the Urban League
of Greater Hartford, which is celebrating 60 years of
economic empowerment. “We appreciate the leader-
ship and team at M&T Bank, a 2024 equity partner,
for their support of our social enterprise, community
engagement, and leadership development, and now
this Amplify Fund award will help enrich our financial
opportunity program.”
Betsy Biemann, CEO of Coastal Enterprises Inc.,
added that “we are grateful for the M&T Bank Chari-
table Foundation’s support of CEI and their commit-
ment to promoting entrepreneurship and a thriving
small business community in Maine. This funding
from the Amplify Fund will enable us to help more
Maine entrepreneurs who are CEI lending and advi-
sory clients to take charge of their finances and build
assets through no-cost, confidential financial counsel-
ing and coaching, starting them on a solid foundation
for starting or growing their business.”
The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic
arm of M&T Bank, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charita-
ble organization founded in 1993 and funded by M&T
Bank. The foundation awards nearly $40 million in
grants per year to thousands of nonprofit organiza-
tions focused on improving quality of life in the areas
the bank serves. BW
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