The “Raise the Bar for Financial Literacy” 2023 Fundraising Night on Thursday, Nov. 9, at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, will benefit Credit Counseling Center (CCC) and honor Barbara Lyons, Esq.
Lyons spearheaded the Bucks County Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion program in 2009 and has been a longtime supportive partner to CCC in helping thousands of families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.
Attendees of the Fundraising Night, which begins at 5 p.m. and concludes at 7 p.m., can enjoy an evening of food, drinks, live music and fundraising as CCC reports on its community impact. CCC’s free financial counseling services empower individuals with the skills they need to make informed, confident decisions about their finances, laying the foundation for a financially literate future.
Tickets are $95, and are available for online purchase by visiting https://creditcounselingcenter.org/fundraiser. Ticket sales directly fund CCC to counsel families and spread awareness on financial wellness in the community. Corporate event sponsorships and program ads are available. Tax deduction letters are available upon request.
Two highlights of 2023 for CCC were: the opening of two offices at Bucks County Community College, in Bristol and Perkasie; and the piloting of the new financial stability program LIFT United, which focuses on reliable transportation and low interest car loans, along with United Way of Bucks County, Penn Community Bank, and the County of Bucks.
“The opening of the new offices at BCCC has raised Credit Counseling Center’s visibility in the community,” said Ryan Fuller, chairman of CCC’s Board of Directors. “It makes our services more accessible not only to students and staff at the college, but also to the residents that live nearby.”
For the Bucks County Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program, CCC offers preparation for homeowners/renters for the mediation conference with their lender, which is required for families delinquent with mortgage or rent payments. CCC attends the conference to advocate on behalf of the families, and since the program’s inception, Lyons has served as a volunteer mediator.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate Barbara Lyons – she’s such a powerful and positive force in the community,” said Paula Powers-Watts, executive director of Credit Counseling Center. “Barbara’s dedication and expertise has been vital to helping thousands of families stay in their homes through the Bucks County Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program. She was innovative in creating this process to resolve difficult situations through mediation, to give people hope and a path ahead during financial hardship.”
Lyons is the founder of the Bucks County Mediation and Arbitration Center (BCMAC), which provides parties in dispute with alternatives to traditional litigation. As a member of the Senate Advisory Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution, she has helped work to create systems of alternative dispute resolution throughout the commonwealth.
Lyons serves as chair of the Doylestown Township Board of Supervisors; she is now serving her third elected 6-year term as a supervisor. In 2015 she was awarded the Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors President’s Leadership Award, chosen from over 6,000 supervisors across Pennsylvania. Following the school shootings in Sandy Hook, Conn., she was appointed to serve on the Joint State Government Commission for the General Assembly in Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Violence Prevention.
Lyons has volunteered her time and talents to numerous organizations and has provided free legal representation to abused women for over three decades. While on the Board of A Woman’s Place, an organization which provides shelter for women and children leaving an abusive situation who have to start again with limited financial resources, Lyons helped to create and fund the Full Circle Thrift Shop in New Britain; profits from the shop are used for the women served by the organization.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
