Broadview mayor launches free online financial-literacy program with SUCHI partnership

The Village of Broadview on Tuesday introduced "Stepping into Financial Freedom," a free, six-week financial-literacy program the mayor said is designed to help residents build generational wealth, plan for major expenses and improve credit and debt management.

"Financial literacy is not just a skill, it is a form of freedom, especially in communities like Broadview," the mayor said at a livestreamed presentation that the village also archived on YouTube. The mayor thanked the African American Mayors Association and the SUCHI Charitable Foundation for partnering to make the program free to residents.

Bevin Joseph of the SUCHI Charitable Foundation demonstrated the program's mobile-friendly platform for attendees. Joseph said the web and app experience asks users to select their city (Broadview) and an age range, then offers six modular lessons covering budgeting, credit, debt repayment, college savings and long-term planning. "Our mission is really to close the wealth gap by helping families understand money, build financial confidence, and invest in their futures," Joseph said.

The platform includes short pre- and post-module confidence assessments and interactive tools that compute weekly, monthly and annual budgets from user-entered income and expenses. Joseph ran attendees through a sample budgeting exercise illustrating the 50/30/20 rule — 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings or debt repayment — and showed how the tool breaks income into needs, wants and savings automatically.

Joseph also demonstrated the college-savings calculator and a debt-payoff tool. In a sample projection she used a 7% annual tuition-growth assumption and an illustrative full-cost estimate of about $200,000 for multi-year college costs to show how monthly contributions change the outcome. For debt management, the platform lets users list multiple obligations and apply the debt-snowball or debt-avalanche methods to see months-to-payoff estimates based on balances and interest rates the user provides.

The mayor's office is offering a printable certificate and a free book at Village Hall to residents who complete three modules, Joseph said; the presenters encouraged users to complete all six modules but confirmed three completions will trigger the certificate. When asked by the mayor whether the certificate required three or six modules, Joseph said the mayor's office set the three-module threshold for recognition.

The platform includes a "Reflections" feedback field for the mayor's office, a help option that routes technical issues to the SUCHI team, and printable PDFs residents can save or bring to in-person events. The mayor noted the YouTube recording will remain available for tutorials and provided the village's contact information for assistance: (708) 681-3600 and www.broadview-il.gov.

The session closed with the mayor inviting residents to use the tools and celebrate completion milestones with the village. No formal vote or municipal action was taken during the event; it was an informational, community-outreach presentation hosted by the mayor's office.