Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Grants $25,000 to American Consumer Credit Counseling Inc.

Boston, MA – January 24 2022 – The Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation awarded $25,000 to American Consumer Credit Counseling Inc., (ACCC) for its Help, Education, Action, Reminders and Target (HEART) program which provides weekly coaching and counseling to improve the financial well-being of community members. ACCC’s overall mission is to help clients regain control of their finances and plan for a debt-free future.

“The Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation has been proud to provide continuous support to ACCC for over a decade,” said Edward H. Seksay, President and Chair of the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation. “Our partnership with ACCC makes financial education accessible to vulnerable populations and strengthens the neighborhoods in which we work and live.”

Since 2010, the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation has provided nearly $160,000 in grants to ACCC, in its long-standing commitment to empower communities through financial literacy.

The HEART program will model and promote practical financial skills, positive behaviors, and best practices through this framework. Within many of ACCC’s partnerships and financial literacy programs, the ACCC has discovered that there are systemic infrastructure deficiencies among these populations. The HEART program will help participants discover how to take measures from simply observing a budget to preparing a budget, discerning credit scores to increasing scores, and fearing debt to eliminating debt. The expectations of ACCC’s HEART program mirror the best practices advocated by the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). This model meets ACCC’s mission and many of the community partners they work with, like Rockland Trust, by empowering consumers to develop financial independence, financial stability, and self-sufficiency.

“ACCC is thankful for the support from the Rockland Trust Foundation so that we can expand within Massachusetts communities that have experienced financial challenges and insecurities. This award will allow us to provide impactful hands on coaching and money management skills that aim to improve the financial independence and stability of consumers,” said Katie Ross, Executive Vice President, of American Consumer Credit Counseling.

ACCC works with community partners in Middlesex, Suffolk, and Bristol Counties who provide financial literacy, educational workshops, coaching, and counseling. The HEART program will include three eight-week sessions serving 60 consumers over a six-month time period which began in January 2022.