U.S. Bank honored for financial literacy and teen mom support

U.S. Bank has received the 2025 Charles Crittenton Community Partner Award from Florence Crittenton Services.

U.S. Bank recently received the 2025 Charles Crittenton Community Partner Award from Florence Crittenton Services (FloCrit). The award recognizes more than a decade of financial literacy programming, direct cash assistance and community investment at FloCrit’s Denver high school and early childhood education center.

What is Florence Crittenton Services?

FloCrit is a Denver nonprofit and two-generation wraparound service provider for teen mothers. The organization operates a Denver Public Schools high school for the mothers and an early childhood education center for their children. FloCrit works to give young mothers the educational foundation, financial tools and community support they need to achieve lasting independence.

U.S. Bank has partnered with FloCrit for more than a decade through the U.S. Bank Foundation. What began as a grantee relationship has grown into an active, on-the-ground partnership that includes financial education workshops, account-opening events and a reloadable debit card program designed specifically for FloCrit students.

What is the Charles Crittenton Community Partner Award?

The Charles Crittenton Community Partner Award is an annual recognition given by Florence Crittenton Services to an individual or institution that demonstrates outstanding support for the organization’s work. For 2025, FloCrit selected U.S. Bank as the recipient, citing the bank’s sustained investment in financial literacy programming for teen mothers enrolled at Florence Crittenton High School in Denver.

“FloCrit has been a U.S. Bank Foundation grantee for over a decade, but the efforts outside of financial contributions have made this a true partnership,” said Marcia Romero, community affairs manager at U.S. Bank. “They do such an incredible job in the way they empower their students, creating a culture of belonging and inclusivity. We’re proud to fit into their programming in an authentic way.”

How U.S. Bank supports financial literacy for teen mothers

At Florence Crittenton High School’s 2024 graduating senior celebration, a team from U.S. Bank opened bank accounts for approximately 20 graduating seniors. Each student received a $250 deposit to fund the new account, a tangible starting point for financial independence.

The event covered core financial literacy skills: how online banking works, how to log into the mobile app and how to protect personal information.

“It was an incredible experience for our graduating seniors and an impactful event to ensure they were prepared to take the next step,” said Theresa Garcia, director of development at FloCrit. “One of our goals at Florence Crittenton is to prepare these young women to succeed, and how much can you really do in the world without a bank account? Being able to give them that opportunity, show them how online banking works, how to log in into the app and how to keep personal information safe is important.”

The reloadable debit card program

FloCrit has provided direct cash assistance to families for many years through a combination of petty cash and gift cards for needs like gas, food and parenting supplies. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the program hit a critical barrier: staff could not meet with students in person to distribute funds when emergencies arose.

FloCrit brought the problem to U.S. Bank, which responded by designing and launching a reloadable debit card program within weeks. The program allowed FloCrit staff to load funds onto debit cards, deliver them across the Denver metro area and reload them remotely whenever a student had a need.

“Our staff quickly delivered the cards throughout the Metro area,” Garcia said. “Whenever there was a need, a student could talk to their family advocate, who would put in a request for more funds. It made everything so much simpler.”

The reloadable debit cards also became a natural platform for financial education.

“It was a great experience to teach the students how to use a debit card, budgeting and accountability,” Garcia said. “Financial education for young people opened up so many more opportunities for us.”

FloCrit continues to use the card program today. Students receive a card they can use at stores, withdraw funds at ATMs and reload as needed.

Romero attributed the program’s rapid deployment to the transparency of the partnership and to collaboration across U.S. Bank business lines.

“U.S. Bank has always had an open and transparent relationship with FloCrit, so when they came to us with the challenges of delivering funds, we quickly got to work,” Romero said. “I made a few phone calls to our bankers, and we were able to get things in place in just a few weeks. There were some hurdles, but I am proud of the way we rallied together to get these students and teen mothers the financial resources they needed at a time when they needed them most.”

A full circle moment: a FloCrit graduate leads the way at U.S. Bank

Among the U.S. Bank team at the 2024 graduating senior bank account day was Gina Chavez, manager of a U.S. Bank branch in south Denver and a Florence Crittenton graduate herself.

Thirty years ago, before joining U.S. Bank, Chavez was pregnant with her daughter and facing the challenges of continuing her education while preparing for motherhood. Florence Crittenton Services provided the support she needed.

“With everything going on at the time, I knew how important it was to finish my high school education,” Chavez said. “It wasn’t only meaningful for me, but for the future of my baby. Florence Crittenton provided me the support I needed, whether that was through education, the nurses on staff, free baby supplies and lessons that prepared me to succeed in my career.”

Chavez said her 30-year career at U.S. Bank is a direct result of the doors FloCrit opened for her. At the 2024 event, Chavez opened an account for a current third-year FloCrit student.

“I asked her what her plans were after graduation and how she wanted to utilize these accounts,” Chavez said. “The young woman told me she wanted to get into nursing to help deliver babies and purchase her first car. I knew she was on the right path.”