With the Support of Wells Fargo Bank, CSUN Students Offer Financial Coaching to Taxpayers

When the VITA Clinic’s low-income taxpayers arrive for their tax appointments, every client is offered additional free services, including financial coaching from CSUN financial planning student volunteers. Financial coaches can help clients create a household budget, learn about credit and credit scores, sign up for their employer 401k, develop a plan to get out of debt, or refer them to additional community resources, such as CalFresh or unemployment.

Funded with support from Wells Fargo Bank, the financial coaching program is led by CSUN professor Heather Castle, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

“Professor Castle reviews client intake forms and assigns each client to the students,” said Stephanie Vazquez ’24, one of the 2024 financial coaches. “She reviews our work and is available for us if we have any questions.”

The number of coaching sessions each client requires varies, depending on their need, Vazquez said. Sessions are held on Zoom. Vazquez said she enjoys seeing clients learn and become empowered by the coaching.

“This job has really made me realize how a lot of people don’t know about the services that are available to them,” she said. “They think it is going to be impossible for them to pay off their debt, but after coaching they realize it is possible and they feel so grateful. It feels good knowing you are able to help someone, especially knowing it is a free service that is offered to them.

Vazquez said she coached one client with small children to use her tax refund to pay down credit card debt.

“She was paying a lot of interest, and I was able to show her how the interest was going to keep increasing,” she said.

For 2024 financial coach Manuel Abassi-Sirchi ’24, helping one client was personal. Abassi-Sirchi, who lost his own father, helped a recent CSUN graduate navigate his family’s finances after his mother passed away.

“He had a lot on his plate, dealing with his mother’s estate, probate and a younger sister under age 18” Abassi-Sirchi said. “As someone who lost a parent young, I could relate. It was rewarding equipping him with the tools to take this on, so that he wouldn’t feel like he was in limbo. I was able to help him and leave him in a better, more confident position.”

Abassi-Sirchi, Vazquez and their fellow financial coaches also point their low-income clients to helpful resources in the community.

“After we take a close look at their financials, we might refer someone to CalFresh for food assistance,” Vazquez said. “Sometimes they don’t realize they qualify for extra help.”

For Wells Fargo Bank, supporting both the VITA Clinic and the financial coaching program just makes sense.

“Wells Fargo is proud to support CSUN’s VITA Clinic,” said Jack Olree, Wells Fargo Vice President for the bank’s Southern California Social Impact Group.“We are pleased that through our donation we will be able to provide assistance to local residents with no cost tax services and financial advice.”

In addition to helping community members become more financially literate, the volunteer financial coaches also earn hours toward preparation for the CFP exam.

Abassi-Sirchi, who switched his major to Financial Planning after working as a financial coach, said he is now planning to take the CFP exam.

“This program has shaped my future because of the hours invested and the people we’ve helped,” he said. “In fact, I’m now sitting for the CFP exam, a vital step in continuing to help others in their financial choices and future.”

CSUN VITA Clinic Partners on Tacos & Taxes Event for Community

In collaboration with the office Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, the CSUN VITA Clinic held a Tacos & Taxes event in March at the offices of Inclusive Action for the City, a nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) serving Los Angeles County and beyond. More than 100 appointments for tax preparation were made for the event. The event was held in partnership between CSUN VITA Clinic, Inclusive Action, Golden State Opportunity and Wells Fargo Bank.