South Bend City Connect
Reduce the costs of poverty with appropriate technology. Pay it forward to build community.
The working poor lead lives marked by instability and financial upheaval due to the consistent added costs of poverty. We define the high cost of poverty as having two major components: 1- Financial- Paying high fees and additional interest to alternative financial services such as payday loans, check cashing services and prepaid debit cards to access and use one's own money. 2- Emotional- Having to expend additional time, effort and energy to make utility payments and find assistance in times of need. We believe that a mobile solution is ideal to help reduce these additional costs of poverty. Smartphones are widely used among most Americans. South Bend City Connect is a mobile application that creates a unique partnership between nonprofit, private and civic entities. It integrates city services, assistance for financial emergencies, financial education and low costs banking resources into a powerful tool to help South Bend’s working poor work toward financial self sufficiency.