Inland Empire Leaders Unite to Strengthen Financial Stability, Housing Access, and Generational Wealth
By Richard Sandoval for HispanicLifestyle.com and inlandvalleyliving.com
Riverside, California – The 2025 Faith, Finance & Homeownership Summit brought together housing experts, financial educators, nonprofit leaders, and faith-based organizations for a powerful, community-driven conversation about economic empowerment in the Inland Empire. Hosted by the Inland SoCal Housing Collective with support from Credit.org, National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), My Homeownership Academy, and several regional partners the event highlighted the vital role trusted faith leaders play in helping families build financial stability and move toward homeownership.
Held in Riverside, the summit emphasized a simple truth: faith institutions remain one of the most influential and trusted voices for many families, particularly when confronting financial challenges. By equipping those leaders with tools, counseling resources, and direct connections to HUD-Approved agencies, the event strengthened the region’s collective ability to help residents achieve stability and generational wealth.
Building Bridges Between Faith and Housing
Inland SoCal Housing Collective
Melanie Steele, Executive Director of the Inland SoCal Housing Collective, framed the purpose of the summit as both practical and deeply relational.
“The true intention was to ensure that we provided education, partnership opportunities, and to also create a two-way communication,” she explained. “We have faith leaders that don’t have those partnerships. They don’t work with nonprofits, they don’t work with financial institutions, or understand the financial journey that it takes to buy a home.”
As a housing convener for the Inland Empire, the Inland SoCal Housing Collective focuses on collaboration bringing together organizations that can help residents access safe, stable, and affordable housing. Steele emphasized that the work isn’t just about individual wealth; it’s about community resilience.
“It’s not just about building wealth. It’s also about building stable communities. Faith entities are the heart of that, especially here in the IE.”
She highlighted a striking statistic: approximately 14% of California’s faith-owned land is located in the Inland Empire. These churches and faith institutions act as anchor institutions both spiritually and physically in local neighborhoods.
“We really should be partnering, walking arm in arm with them,” Steele noted. “They are assets in our region, but as they focus on the spiritual health of individuals and their communities, they don’t necessarily have the resources for the wealth and knowledge their communities need. To build resilient faith communities, they need tools and resources connected to them and their congregation members.”
Housing as the Foundation for Life
My Homeownership Academy
For Rebecca Flores Castro of My Homeownership Academy, housing is more than a roof it’s the foundation for emotional, educational, and generational stability.
“One of the things that is really important for people to understand about housing, whether it’s homeownership or just rental—is that where you live affects all of your life,” she shared.
She painted a clear picture of how housing insecurity affects families:
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When a child doesn’t know where they will sleep at night, it’s harder to focus in school.
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When families don’t know where they’ll cook or store food, daily life becomes consumed with uncertainty.
“One of the things about having educational programs like this is to break the cycle of poverty,” Flores Castro said. “We educate people so they can have the tools to grow, and by that, we give generational wealth opportunities to the next generation.”
Her work centers on helping both professionals and families move from survival mode toward long-term planning and ownership—equipping them with knowledge, not just transactions.
Faith, Money, and Peace of Mind
Ecclesia Christian Fellowship
Dr. Joshua Beckley, senior pastor at Ecclesia Christian Fellowship in northeast San Bernardino, has pastored his church for 35 years with a mission of “picking up broken pieces in the lives of people and creating authentic Christians.”
He reminded attendees that money is a deeply spiritual issue, not just a practical one.
“The Bible teaches a lot about finance,” he said. “There are thousands of verses that talk about money. God is concerned about how we manage this money that we have in our hands. I don’t believe God is expecting everybody to be rich, but I do expect everybody to manage their resources to the point where they’re comfortable.”
At Ecclesia, the church offers:
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A “Common Cents” class an eight-week course on financial stability, budgeting, and financial education.
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A twice-a-year event called “Knowledge for Living,” where they bring in presenters on:
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Wealth management
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Trusts and wills
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Car and home financing
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Lending and credit requirements
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Senior Pastor Beckley stressed why this matters:
“Financial stability is one of the key stressors in our society. It can make people feel either successful or like a failure. It affects marriages and relationships. When people feel stable, strong, and satisfied, there’s a sense of peace, not just for themselves, but for others.”
From Debt to Legacy
Water of Life Community Church
Mark Nuaimi, Senior Director of Development and Strategic Ministry Projects at Water of Life Community Church, spoke about generosity, legacy, and what it means to live out faith in finances.
“Anytime you talk about finances in a church about tithing and generosity people wonder, ‘What’s in it for them?’” he admitted. “But really, God has raised us to be rivers, not reservoirs. It’s not the person who dies with the most toys who wins. It’s the person who leaves a legacy.”
He shared a powerful story from the church’s work with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University:
A young woman in the class walked to the front in week two to cut up her credit cards, as the program suggests. The first week, she only cut up half of them. The next week, convicted to fully commit, she returned and cut up the remaining cards.
“Two weeks after that walk of faith,” Nuaimi recalled, “she gets a call from the IRS. She and her husband had been battling the IRS, tens of thousands of dollars in default—according to the IRS. The IRS called and said, ‘Sorry, we were wrong. We actually owe you thousands of dollars.’”
That refund allowed the couple to pay off five of the seven credit cards she had cut up.
“That walk of faith God shows up. I tell every class: God is going to show up in your finances. He’s in the details, and He loves the details.”
The “Best Kept Secret” in Housing Help
Credit.org & Inland Empire Saves
Melinda Opperman of Credit.org reminded attendees that one of the most powerful tools available to families is often simply unknown.
“HUD-approved housing counseling is the best kept secret,” she said. “Because we’re nonprofits, we don’t have massive advertising budgets.”
Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Riverside, Credit.org offers confidential, low-cost or no-cost counseling for:
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Families proactively preparing to buy a home
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Homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure or catch up on payments
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Individuals dealing with debt and credit challenges
“People learned that we’re right here in the community, and that we provide this service at no cost,” Opperman emphasized.
She also highlighted the Inland Empire Saves campaign, available at IESaves.org:
“Sometimes the first step toward a goal is simply making a commitment to save. When you make a pledge at that website, you’re making a pledge to yourself—whether it’s to get out of debt, save for homeownership, a vacation, or education. You’re 90 times more likely to achieve a goal when you make that kind of pledge.”
Financial Literacy, Planning, and Homeownership
National Foundation for Credit Counseling
Hermond Palmer, Senior Vice President of Outreach and Engagement at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), connected financial literacy with long-term stability.
“Good financial literacy deals with having a plan,” he said. “You wouldn’t go on a journey without a map.”
For Palmer, baseline financial literacy includes:
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Creating and living by a budget
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Covering needs, some wants, and building an emergency fund
This preparation helps families weather financial storms without losing their progress toward big goals like homeownership, retirement, or college savings.
Palmer also underscored a core message of the day:
“Homeownership is the American Dream. It’s the dream for all Americans, no matter your background. It gives you control, and it is the fastest way to build wealth in this nation.”
He drew a clear distinction:
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Homeownership: Paying a mortgage builds equity for you and your family.
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Renting: Paying rent builds equity for your landlord.
“We’d rather build equity for ourselves than for someone we don’t even know,” he said.
Palmer closed with a forward-looking vision:
“This event, Faith, Finance, and Homeownership is just the beginning. We’re here to build collaboration between financial services, nonprofits, and the faith community, so people can be connected in times of triumph and trouble. We are better together.”
Access to Banking and Financial Tools
Inland SoCal Housing Collective – Bank Access Efforts
Jay Miller, Associate Director with the Inland SoCal Housing Collective, spoke about the reality that many residents rely on cash or phone-based app systems instead of traditional banking.
“There are a lot of people using their cell phone as their bank,” he said. “They don’t have the same protections that a traditional account would have. Others still rely on cash because it feels more ‘real’ than an invisible dollar in a digital account.”
But that comfort has consequences. Without a bank account and a record of deposits:
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It’s harder to grow a business.
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It’s harder to qualify for a mortgage—even with affordable options such as Habitat for Humanity.
Miller and his partners work to help residents open safe, low-fee accounts and learn how to use them effectively as a stepping stone toward long-term goals like homeownership.
Reverse Mortgage Education, Not Sales
Reverse Mortgage Academy – Credit.org
Corey Williams, Community Engagement Specialist with Credit.org, described the Reverse Mortgage Academy as “first base” for older adults and families curious about reverse mortgages.
“We educate them on how the process works, eligibility factors, and what to expect,” Williams said. “They get information from a trusted source that doesn’t have a financial stake in the transaction.”
The goal is to ensure that before speaking to any lender, real estate agent, or broker, families:
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Understand the pros and cons
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Know who is eligible and under what conditions
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Have a realistic picture of what happens long-term and after the homeowner passes
Claudio Espino, Manager of Counseling Programs and Outreach for Credit.org, also underscored the nonprofit’s commitment in Spanish to educate older adults and first-time buyers, guide them through credit challenges, and prepare them for responsible ownership. Credit.org’s bilingual services make these tools accessible to more Inland Empire households.
Protecting What Families Build
Estate Planning & Generational Protection
Attorney LaTanya S. Greer, Esq. focused on an essential but often overlooked part of wealth-building: estate planning.
“One thing I think is imperative is that people understand what their estate is—what comprises it,” she explained. “If you don’t know what you have, you can’t move on to the next piece.”
Through conversations about family structure, goals, and concerns, she helps families choose between tools like wills and trusts:
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Wills can direct where assets go, but offer limited customization.
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Trusts provide flexibility and can be tailored to unique family situations, such as children with special needs or complex family dynamics.
“The benefit of working with a lawyer on a trust is that you can customize it,” Greer said. “Nobody understands your family better than you. A judge doesn’t know that you do.”
Estate planning ensures that the sacrifices and progress made today are preserved and passed on intentionally.
Just the Beginning
From Riverside to San Bernardino, from large congregations to local nonprofits, the Faith, Finance & Homeownership Summit showcased a unified message:
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Faith communities are central to the Inland Empire’s social and spiritual fabric.
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Financial literacy, housing counseling, and legal planning are key to long-term stability.
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Collaboration across sectors is the path forward.
Pastors, counselors, attorneys, and financial experts are now more closely connected—ready to help families build, protect, and pass on wealth and well-being.
This summit is not the end of the conversation—it’s the start of a deeper, ongoing partnership to improve quality of life, homeownership access, and financial confidence across the Inland Empire.
