About NGO:

Swadhaar FinAccess (SFA) is a Mumbai based non-profit founded in March 2005, established with the objective of providing the economically disadvantaged, predominantly women living in slum communities, an increased access to financial services and to bridge the gap with the formal financial sector thereby helping them improve their financial circumstances.

SFA imparts financial education to these women through a specially designed Financial Education Programme (FEP) that covers key concepts like understanding the different sources of income, budgeting, savings and credit management, thus empowering them with education which will help them to make informed financial decisions through better management of their limited financial resources and aspire for a financially secure future for themselves and their families. SFA reached out to over 13000 women in the FY 2010-11

Fund Usage:

The amount raised through the Mumbai Marathon will be spent on SFA's Financial Education Programme (FEP). SFA reached out to 8941 women through the 5-sessions Financial Education Programme and 2818 women through the short duration training programmes.

During the F.Y. 2012 SFA aims to reach out to 35433 women through both 5-sessions and short duration training programmes. Cost estimates for the programme for the year is INR 104, 27,515/-

Impact:

Rekha was a participant of the Financial Education Programme (FEP) in February 2010. Rekha works as a household helper. Her husband is a contract worker with a municipal corporation and gets paid in cash. The training that she received through FEP empowered Rekha with the skills to track expenditures, budget and save from her existing household income. "I continue to write in the budget diary today, since it gives me a fair picture of whether I am staying within my budgeted expenses on a daily and monthly basis, while I manage to save on most days of the month."

For a very long time, Rekha was in need of money for household repairs. Eventually, she took a loan from Swadhaar FinServe Pvt. Ltd., a Non-Banking Finance Company established by the promoters of Swadhaar FinAccess. From the training Rekha received at FEP, which included instruction on calculating interest rates and managing loans, Rekha learned how to save on a regular basis while simultaneously repaying her loan.

Today, Rekha has a no-frills savings account, which Swadhaar FinAccess helped her open. She says, "No one was willing to lend me and my husband any money, since our incomes are low and we did not have documentary proof [of income]"... Since both of us are paid in cash, I plan to deposit our salaries in the savings account every month. Hopefully, this will provide documentary proof of our income."

Rekha's husband has received a significant raise this year, but Rekha prefers to save a part of that amount and use the rest to repay her loan from Swadhaar FinServe and from her relatives.
She says "I cannot explain the joy on the faces of my husband and my father who lives nearby, upon seeing the certificate of participation I received from Swadhaar FinAccess. It is of immense value to me, since I am not educated and have not received anything like this before."

Page Url :
http://www.unitedwaymumbai.org/ngo111_sfa.htm

Founded Year: 2005

Cause category: Education