For many families new to children’s savings account (CSA) programs, what matters more than sign-ups and seed deposits is whether a program has a trusted community presence.

Recognizing the importance of building trust, Flourishing for the Future, a CSA program managed by CEDAM member Urban Neighborhood Initiatives (UNI), used an Innovation & Sustainability Grant to hire its first outreach and engagement coordinator.

UNI is a place-based community development organization based in Southwest Detroit The CSA component of UNI’s programming was established in 2024, when one of UNI’s community partners announced the sunsetting of its CSA program, which had been operating in the Springwells community through UNI. To ensure that no accounts were closed and that local families retained uninterrupted access to essential CSA program resources, UNI stepped up to create Flourishing for the Future. 

Developing a community-focused solution

For nearly 30 years, UNI has worked alongside residents in a 1.4‑square‑mile area of the Springwells neighborhood in Southwest Detroit. Because they know the community so well, they understood that many families face significant barriers to asset‑building: mistrust of financial institutions, language barriers, and confusion about how children’s savings accounts operate. UNI recognized that addressing these challenges would require consistent, trusted, on‑the‑ground engagement.

It was from these challenges that the idea for a part-time outreach and engagement coordinator emerged, and, unknowingly, a full-circle moment was set in motion.

After applying for and receiving an Innovation & Sustainability Grant administered by CEDAM and funded by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, UNI hired Magdalena Alcaraz, an alum of UNI’s youth programming. With her skill set and firsthand knowledge of the Springwells community, she has not only helped further plant Flourishing for the Future’s presence in the community but also facilitated important changes to the program as a whole.

“Having someone dedicated to this program has been very instrumental,” said Tanya Aho, the post-secondary initiatives program director at UNI. “Since we first onboarded Magdalena, we have [opened] over 130 new accounts, increased our deposit days from two to three a month, and added extra hours to some of our programming from 9am to 6pm to accommodate our working parents.”

Connecting through multilingual outreach

Expanding Flourishing for the Future’s multilingual resources was a central goal for the outreach and engagement coordinator position. Alcaraz, a native Spanish speaker, has taken on the role of dedicated translator for the program, helping to lead bilingual workshops on critical subjects such as college and career readiness and financial literacy. This has been vital for the Springwells community, where Spanish is the primary language for many families, enabling the program to connect with a wider audience.

When sharing about the bilingual aspect of the coordinator position, Alcaraz said, “Sometimes parents come up to me speaking English because they don’t think I speak Spanish. And then when I tell them I speak Spanish, the sense of relief you see on their face is amazing…and that’s exactly why I’m here. That person-to-person connection.”

Identifying new financial partners

As the program’s outreach and engagement coordinator, Alcaraz also played a key role in bringing on board Alliance Catholic Credit Union (ACCU), Flourishing for the Future’s new financial partner. After reviewing the program’s account data and seeing an opportunity to streamline the deposit process, Alcaraz suggested UNI develop a relationship with ACCU. Familiar with UNI’s work in the community, ACCU met with Aho and Alcaraz about UNI’s CSA program and was eager to get involved.

“ACCU is very committed to this neighborhood, and they were able to help fund our 30 new middle school accounts. Their presence in the neighborhood not only gives our parents more ease of mind…when it comes to our children’s savings program, but now they also have a familiar face in the banking industry to potentially go to for their financial needs,” said Aho.

“Having a partner that’s not only so invested in our community but also in supporting our CSA programming and youth participants, I feel like that’s been invaluable,” Alcaraz added.

Measuring success through long-term impact

Ultimately, the creation of a dedicated outreach and engagement position has been a huge success for Flourishing for the Future, and Aho credits Alcaraz with much of that impact.

“Magdalena has been able to give the program the time and attention it needed without being divided in a hundred different directions,” said Aho. “This has allowed her to develop important, personal relationships with parents, which have both increased program participation and given her insight on the best ways we can meaningfully improve the program for our community, instead of merely maintaining it.” 

Flourishing for the Future is one of 18 programs currently enrolling students as part of the Michigan CSA Network, a statewide initiative led by CEDAM. The Network supports community-based CSA programs through coalition building, technical assistance, and shared resources. During the 2024-25 academic year, CEDAM and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity awarded more than $450,000 to Michigan programs through Innovation & Sustainability Grants.