The City of South Bend was awarded a $150,000 grant for its Financial Empowerment Center.

The center will offer no-cost, one-on-one financial counseling for South end residents and is the first of its kind in the state.

The grant, awarded by the national Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, will help support the center’s launch, where professionally trained FEC counselors will help those with low and moderate incomes manage their finances, pay down debt, increase savings, establish and build credit.

The center will launch at temporary locations around the City later this year before its permanent home at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Dream Center opens next year.