In a region where one in four people don’t have emergency savings, Clarifi is teaching people crucial financial knowledge that they, and generations before them, never had access to or learned.

We’re equipping families with the tools, resources and capital to thrive. So more people can save for both emergencies and vacations. So renters can become first-time homeowners.

Because everyone deserves to be secure and stable with their finances.

Because social justice cannot be achieved without financial justice.

In our 57th year, Clarifi is deepening its impact in our communities, with a focus on direct cash grants to clients and building a path to financial resilience for thousands of people in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

See our highlights below to learn more about how we serve.

2023 By the Numbers

Taking the Lead: 2023 Highlights

• Clarifi assisted families displaced from University City Townhomes
  • As part of a deal reached between the City of Philadelphia and UCT’s landowner, Clarifi counselors assisted 70 families displaced from UCT to ensure they were prepared to manage lump sum payments received from the settlement.
• A research initiative between Clarifi and Lincoln Financial was featured in the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose’s newsletter.
  • Clarifi’s research showed that our one-to-one financial counseling helped clients make marked improvements to their financial health: Clarifi clients were three times as likely to reach a significant financial health milestone and twice as likely to achieve financial stability.
• Our executive director accepted a position on the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board
  • Steve Gardner is now on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Consumer Advisory Board. He advises and consults the CFPB on financial issues related to community banks and credit unions.
• Jill Roberts will serve on Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker’s Housing, Planning & Development Subcommittee.
  • As part of the Parker Transition, our director of advocacy, Jill Roberts joins 600+ expert stakeholders across the city on one of 13 policy subcommittees. Jill has more than two decades in the not-for-profit housing and community development fields.
• Our Advocacy Director was chosen as Co-Lead for a homeownership initiative
  • Jill Roberts served as Co-Lead of the Preservation & Sustainability workstream for CONVERGENCE Philadelphia, an initiative to increase homeownership among Black, Hispanic, and other diverse households in Philadelphia.
• We committed to being a trauma-informed organization
  • As a nonprofit that offers one-to-one counseling to low- to moderate-income people, it is imperative for our staff to be trauma-informed. Clarifi began this commitment over the summer through an all-staff training day with a trauma-informed expert.

Clarifi in the News, Press: 2023 Highlights

• Clarifi was listed as a resource in the Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Clarifi’s free financial counseling was included in a recent Inquirer piece on the federal SAVE repayment plan amid the recent resumption of student loans. You can read the story here. 
• Clarifi is part of a podcast episode on identity crimes in Black communities
  • Listen to “ITRC Identity in Practice Report Takeaways and Key Findings” now. Part 1: Identity Crimes in Black Communities. Part 2: What does it mean?
• Clarifi was quoted in a Philadelphia Inquirer investigative story.
  • The story covers reckless construction in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods and its disproportionate impact on communities of color.
• Steve Gardner published an op-ed on how we help people become homeowners through our partnerships.
  • These partnerships not only allow us to serve thousands of low- to moderate-income residents every year, they are a direct investment in our clients, many of whom are women of color.