About Us
Staff
Clare Dahl (she/her/ella), Financial and Life Span Educator
Clare is the Financial and Life Span Educator for UW-Madison Division of Extension in Dane County. In this role, she works with a state-wide network of UW-Extension educators to support Dane County families and community partners to increase financial capability to move toward well-being. Life Span programming includes topics such as Aging-Friendly Communities, Family Caregiving, and End of Life Planning.
Kula Yang, Family Relationships and Finance Educator
Kula provides programming and support for families to improve relationships and build financial security. She has a Master’s degree in Social Work from UW-Madison and experience working in both human resources and with local nonprofits serving individuals who are low-income and experiencing homelessness.
Our Location
Administrative and Mailing Address:
5201 Fen Oak Dr. Suite 138
Madison, WI 53718
Main Phone: (608) 244-3700
UW Madison South Partnership (UWSMP) Office
2238 South Park Street
Madison, WI 53713
Main Phone: (608) 283-1261
Our History
The Financial Education Center (FEC), a program of Dane County UW-Extension, was opened in 2005 in a low-income neighborhood in the South Madison area with the purpose of offering consistent, reliable and integrated financial education, counseling, asset building services and referrals in a central and familiar location. Historically, funding has come from foundation grants, financial institutions, utility providers and the local United Way. A 501©3, Friends of the FEC, was created to allow receipt of foundation grant dollars.
As the number of Dane County children growing up in poverty continues to grow, it is highly likely that their care-givers are not financially capable to consistently provide food on a daily basis. As low-income family care-givers struggle to make ends meet as a result of job insecurity, rising food and housing costs and decreasing public assistance programs, the impact on their children’s long-term health and ability to succeed in school is severely jeopardized. The FEC equips these families with the necessary skills to increase credit worthiness, reduce barriers to housing, and improve their overall financial capability. Since its inception, the FEC has engaged over 2,000 volunteers to bring over 55,000 instances of financial educational programming to Dane County residents.
Due to changing community needs and organizational restructuring over time, there is no longer a physical Financial Education “Center.” Dane County UW-Extension Financial Education programming continues to be offered at the UWSMP site as well as various community agency and collaborative partner locations. We also continue to offer programming virtually.
