Financial and Credit Counseling Resources

Community resource directory

Consumer Credit Counseling Service

Address:                     625 Merchant St., Suite 205,
                                    Emporia, KS 66801

Phone Number:          (620) 342-7788 or
                                    1-800-383-0217

E-Mail:                         hcci@hcci-ks.org

Website:                      http://www.hcci-ks.org/

Purpose/Mission:  Individual credit counseling.

Service Provided:  Our Credit Counseling Program is available in person at our Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan and Emporia office locations.  Interviews are confidential and can be held in person, by phone, mail or Internet. No one is turned away because of inability to pay.  This service is available to anyone regardless of race, sex, creed, color, and/or social or financial position.  The counselor will help you determine if you will be eligible for a debt repayment plan.

Cost/Fees:  One-time $25 counseling fee payable at the first visit; all other visits and phone calls are free.

To Access Services:  Phone, email or website

East Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corporation (ECKAN)

Address:                         616 Merchant,
                                        P.O. Box 239,
                                        Emporia KS 66801

Phone Number:              (620) 342-4607

E-Mail:                             jadd2005@hotmail.com

Website:                          http://www.eckan.org/

Purpose/Mission:  ECKAN's motto is "Helping People to Help Themselves."  As an organization, we do this by helping families move from welfare assistance to be self-sustaining and self-sufficient. ECKAN, a community action agency, has been in existence since 1966 serving

Service Provided: 

•The Community Food and Nutrition Program (CFN) offers services to assist individuals and families who are in urgent need of food but who lack reasonable access to food resources.

•FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Act) provides money as available to low-income persons for the purchase of food, the payment of rent/mortgage, and the payment of utilities.

•Head Start 0-4 offers the children of low-income families a preschool experience designed to prepare them for entrance into elementary school.

•The Housing Choice Voucher program offers rental assistance to low-income families, enabling them to obtain affordable, quality housing.

•Housing Counseling and Rental: clients are provided with information on landlord/tenant rights, housing discrimination complaints, and locating affordable housing for rental or purchase.

•Through the Outreach Program, staff identifies and visits the disadvantaged, providing them with the information and the support needed to benefit from self-help services.

Population Served: Low-income persons in Anderson, Coffey, Douglas, Franklin, Johnson, Lyon, Miami, Morris, and Osage counties.

Eligibility:  Based on income

Emporia Service Center (SRS)

 Child Support Enforcement

Address:                         1701 Wheeler,
                                        PO Box 1468.,
                                        Emporia, KS 66801

Phone Number:               (620) 342-2505

E-Mail:                             mkhx@srskansas.org

Website:                         http://www.srskansas.org/cse/cse.htm

Office Hours:                   8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Purpose/Mission:  CSE is a federal, state, private, and county operation, providing a full range of child and medical support services, from establishing paternity and establishment of support orders to modifications and enforcement through state staff and contractors.

Service Provided:  The Kansas Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program helps families with children by:

• Enforcing child support orders;

• Locating absent parents and their property;

• Getting an order of paternity, if the father needs to be identified legally;

• Getting an order for cash child support, if needed;

• Getting and enforcing an order for health insurance coverage for a child, if needed; and

• Watching to make sure support payments come in regularly.

Population Served:  Families with children

To Access Services: Telephone, email or website

Emporia State University School of Business

 Free Income-Tax Assistance

Address:                         1200 Commercial St.,
                                        Emporia Kansas 66801

Phone Number:              (620) 341-5693

Website:                         http://www.emporia.edu/business/vita.php

Office Hours:                  First-come, first served on dates posted on web site.

Service Provided:  Basic tax return preparation and electronic filing by students in the ESU School of Business

Population Served: This assistance is available to taxpayers whose household income is below $35,000.

Eligibility:  This assistance is available to taxpayers whose household income is below $35,000.

Cost/Fees:  Free

To Access Services:  Telephone or web site

Salvation Army

Address:                       327 Constitution St.,  
                                      Emporia, KS 66801

Phone Number:            (620) 342-3093

Website:                       http://www.usc.salvationarmy.org/usc/www_usc_kan.nsf

Purpose/Mission:  Emergency Assistance Program

Service Provided:  The Emergency Assistance Program providing services to families on an emergency basis. This program provides aid for families who need rent, utility, clothing, food or other unforeseen assistance that cannot wait. Caseworkers, who meet with families to assess their needs, are located in each of the 8 corps community centers throughout the city in order to be accessible to those seeking assistance. Gifts and food during the Christmas holidays are also provided for nearly 10,000 families.

Population Served:  Individuals and families needing emergency assistance.

Eligibility:  Based on need

Cost/Fees:  None

To Access Services:  Telephone or visit the office.