Helping Women Help Themselves

Budget Buddies is a Massachusetts-based, non-profit organization focused on improving the financial literacy of low-income women in the Greater Lowell area. Our innovative, no-fee program combines workshops on budgeting, banking, and credit with one-on-one coaching and support groups to help clients develop core money management skills and resolve their individual financial issues. Budget Buddies partners with local banks, social service agencies, and volunteers to provide customized training and support in basic money management.

In September 2010, Budget Buddies launched a six-month pilot program serving clients of the Chelmsford Housing Authority and the Lowell Transitional Living Center. Funded in part through a federal grant provided through the Jericho Road Project, with training support from the Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, this pilot helped us evaluate our business model and obtain the performance results we need to expand our organization. We subsequently received an award from Jericho Road for our evaluation strategy, which was developed in coordination with Concord, MA -based Carlisle and Company.

In May 2011, we started a new program with House of Hope, which provides shelter and homes to low-income families with children in Lowell. This program included a pilot of Budget Buddies Basics, designed to prepare women with minimal skills for workshops and coaching. We have since started additional programs at House of Hope and have launched new programs at American MoJo, a manufacturing facility for low-income mothers, South Bay Early Intervention, a clinic for families of children with developmental needs, Girls, Inc., an after school program for middle and high school students,  Coalition for a Better Acre, which provides a wide range of activities for Lowell's Acre neighborhood, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell, and the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services in Lowell.