This program provides one-on-one counseling to assist families that were planning a major financial move, such as a car or home purchase, or those who were homeless or behind in their rent payments, in default of their mortgage loan, or needed counseling to refinance a long-term mortgage or consolidate credit card debt.  Further investigation revealed many had the ability to meet their obligations if proper steps were taken to regain control of their financial position.  Three of Open Hearth’s staff and one volunteer have completed the required study to become Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance (HEMAP) counselors, in order to provide qualified referrals to HEMAP.  We have recently reached an agreement with Phoenixville Area Community Services (PACS) to send our staff into their offices on a weekly basis to meet with residents who use PACS for food and other support.  Our staff will provide the FIRM program and other assistance in an effort to help these families secure long-term stability.  While most of the principles we teach in FIRM are available in our free workshop series that are held weekly in Exton, the personal nature of a financial crisis and sometimes limited understanding of complex financial matters on the part of the consumer results in most people not sharing their personal challenges in a public forum.  We have found the personal contact of FIRM’s one-on-one meetings to be the most effective method of program delivery and the most comfortable for the consumer.