We get a lot of inquiries at the Agency about where our money comes from to run our operations. Here’s a list of the most frequently asked questions:
Are you County?
No. Triangle Family Services is a private, non-profit agency. We are not a part of any government branch, although we do receive grant money from different levels of government to fund some of the services we offer.
Are you a division of United Way?
No. Triangle United Way is a fund-raising operation that is a partial source of funding to our agency and to nearly 40 other non-profits in Wake County alone.
Are all your counselors volunteers?
No. We do have some volunteers that help our operation. But in order to attract qualified professionals who can serve our clients on a full-time and consistent basis, all our CCCS counselors are compensated for their work.
If you are private, do you charge for your services?
No. All of our counseling services are free of charge. We do charge for issuing bankruptcy certificates and for setting up and maintaining debt management plans for clients who choose to enroll.
How do you keep the doors open if your services are free?
We rely on public and private grants and donations. As noted previously, we do get some of our funding from United Way and from government grants. We also get funding from private organizations and from donations.
I heard that all CCCS offices are in the pocket of the credit card companies. Is that true?
No. When we enroll a client in a Debt Management Plan (DMP) to deal with credit card debt, we act as a middleman between the client and the credit card bank. The credit card bank offers a discounted interest rate and sometimes a reduced monthly payment to the client. Our source of funding when setting up a DMP is an initial setup charge, a monthly processing charge, and a small payment from the bank. These funds offset the administrative costs needed to set up and maintain a DMP for a client.
Please keep this information in mind when you come to see us. We are able to provide a valuable, professional service to our clients because of the funding that we receive from various sources. If you have a satisfactory experience after your counseling session, consider making a donation to help us continue to serve the Triangle community.
