CredAbility was formerly known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta. It is a nonprofit organization providing financial counseling services to help individuals and families in need. CredAbility assists over 1 million clients annually with services such as housing counseling, budget and credit counseling, debt management plans, education, and bankruptcy assistance. It has experienced significant growth in counseling sessions, especially for housing-related issues. Research shows clients improve their financial confidence and most are able to avoid foreclosure after receiving CredAbility's counseling.
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CCCS of Greater Atlanta is now CredAbility
On May 26, 2010, Consumer Credit Counseling Service
of Greater Atlanta changed its name to CredAbility
Helps to eliminate confusion with hundreds of other agencies
across the country with similar-sounding names
Makes it easier for people to identify and find the resources they
are seeking
Provides a brand that is more consistent with our position as a
leading national provider of credit counseling and education
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Our Agency
Founded in 1964, CredAbility is a family of Consumer
Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) agencies that includes:
• CCCS of Greater Atlanta
• CCCS of Central Florida and the Florida Gulf Coast
• CCCS of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast
• CCCS of East Tennessee
• CCCS of Jackson (Mississippi)
• CCCS of Upstate South Carolina
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Our Agency
CredAbility is…
A full-service, nonprofit, financial counseling agency headquartered
in Atlanta, serving clients in all 50 states, plus Guam, Puerto Rico
and the US Virgin Islands
Accessible, providing counseling in-person at 25 locations across
the southeastern US and 24/7 over the telephone and Internet
• In 2009, over 1.7 million consumers reached out to our agency for help
with their financial needs
Accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) of Children and
Family Services
Certified as a National Intermediary by the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide both
comprehensive and reverse mortgage housing counseling services
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Our Mission
We…
Help financially-distressed people move from crisis to control by
providing compassionate service with innovative and practical
solutions
See ourselves as a financial emergency room, creating hope and
inspiring lasting change
Are committed to comprehensive, holistic counseling -- our
counseling programs are designed to help clients assess their
financial situation, set clear goals and establish a realistic, written
action plan
Are innovative and responsive, helping clients according to their
needs -- where, when and how they prefer to access our services
Conduct research to measure our performance and outcomes
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What We Do
Housing Counseling
We help consumers achieve and maintain stable housing, serving
more than 122,000 Americans through pre-purchase, foreclosure
prevention, reverse mortgage, rent delinquency, post-occupancy
and loan declination counseling in 2009
Budget & Credit Counseling
We offer free individualized advice to consumers, helping more
than 69,000 Americans develop and balance budgets, manage
money, use credit wisely, handle debt and build savings plans in
2009
Debt Management Plans
We develop affordable, structured, reduced payment programs for
consumers, helping nearly 29,000 financially distressed consumers
repay more than $118 million to unsecured creditors in 2009
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What We Do
Education and Public Outreach
We teach a broad range of money management and financial
classes to consumers
In 2009, we taught over 78,000 consumers through our money
management and housing education seminars
Bankruptcy Counseling & Education
We are among a select group of nonprofit agencies approved by
the Executive Office for United States Trustees (EOUST) to provide
budget and credit counseling for bankruptcy filers nationwide
In 2009, we provided:
• Pre-filing bankruptcy counseling to more than 260,000 individuals
• Pre-discharge education to more than 120,000 individuals
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A National Service Provider
We serve clients in all 50 states, plus three territories
2009 CredAbility Client Distribution by ZIP Code
Map excludes AK, HI and Territories
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Counseling Growth
Since 2005, demand for our counseling services has grown
472%, to 388,000 sessions in 2009
Total Counseling Sessions
-
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
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Committed to Client Success: Research & Outcomes
Custom research studies:
• Ensure the integrity of our work
• Provide valuable feedback for shaping public policy affecting non-profit
credit counseling.
Topics include:
• The effectiveness of telephone and Internet counseling delivery
• Outcomes of foreclosure clients one year following counseling
CredAbility routinely captures, analyzes and reports data on
client profiles, service levels and outcome measures
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Foreclosure Prevention Research
Clients completing foreclosure prevention counseling
sessions improve confidence in their ability to meet their
financial goals by more than 60%
A recent study found that one year after counseling:
80%80% are still in their home
78%78% have no foreclosure activity