Credit Counseling Center Announces the Opening of Two New Locations at Bucks County Community College, at Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks (Bristol) and Upper Bucks Campus (Perkasie)
A Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Took Place on April 4, 2023, 11 a.m., at Bucks County Community College Epstein Campus, in Bristol, PA
Credit Counseling Center (CCC) celebrated the Grand Opening of two new office locations at Bucks County Community College (BCCC) – Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks (Bristol) and Upper Bucks Campus (Perkasie), with a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on Tuesday April 4, at 11 a.m., at the Epstein Campus. Local government officials, community partners, CCC’s board of directors, and clients and friends attended the event, which was held in partnership with the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce.
Credit Counseling Center offers counseling appointments at the Lower Bucks campus on Mondays and Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Upper Bucks Campus on Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to help students, faculty and the nearby community enhance their financial well-being. Services are free, and provide help with budgeting, paying off debt, avoiding foreclosure and eviction, managing student loans, building credit, buying a home, and planning for retirement.
“We are pleased to now have a presence on not one, but two Bucks County Community College campuses,” said Paula Powers-Watts, Credit Counseling Center’s Executive Director. “It’s so important for people to know that help will never be out of reach when it comes to managing money – for the BCCC students, faculty, and entire nearby community. There should be no stigma when it comes to talking about finances.”
“We are thrilled to have this partnership with Credit Counseling Center at both our Epstein Campus in Bristol and at our Upper Bucks Campus in Perkasie,” said Jim Sell, Executive Dean at the Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks (Bristol), and Upper Bucks Campus (Perkasie), BCCC. “This has been a win-win for everyone involved: the College, Credit Counseling Center, our community and our students. In the short time CCC has been on the Epstein campus, representatives have already provided guidance to our students through one-on-one meetings and via larger group presentations. They are truly an asset to our campuses and we look forward to building upon this relationship.”
Powers-Watts also believes CCC’s new college campus presence promotes awareness of good financial habits in young adulthood. “We’re here to help instill the confidence necessary for achieving long-term financial success.”
“At this office so far on the Eptstein Campus, 30 percent of the clients we’ve seen are facing foreclosure,” said Powers-Watts. “We’re fighting to keep them in their homes, and fighting to show them how they can have long-term financial stability.“
Over the past 28 years, Credit Counseling Center’s non-profit financial counseling workshops and private counseling programs have improved the lives of 100,000+ people, giving them guidance and tools to improve their quality of life, as well as greater opportunity for economic mobility. CCC is a county, state and federally funded non-profit, and is currently launching a new Corporate Sponsorship Campaign, to help raise funds and make Financial Wellness Workplace Workshops and individual counseling appointments available as a benefit to sponsor companies’ employees.
Credit Counseling Center is accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children & Family Service, Housing & Urban Development (HUD), Pennsylvania Finance Agency (PHFA), and is a US Department of Justice Approved credit counseling agency. CCC’s many community partners include Bucks County through The Bucks County Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program, and United Way of Bucks County and the LIFT Program.
About Credit Counseling Center: Established in 1994, Credit Counseling Center has helped more than 100,000 people establish budgets, pay down and get out of debt, save for an emergency fund, improve credit scores, buy first homes, prevent foreclosure, and live in control of their finances. CCC has four offices, in Richboro, Levittown, Bristol and Perkasie, and are a HUD- and PHFA-supported non-profit organization.
Credit Counseling Center received a proclamation and flag from Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office, in recognition of the Grand Opening of the new office at Bucks County Community College and for outstanding service to the community.
From left: Paula Powers-Watts, Executive Director of Credit Counseling Center cuts the official red ribbon in celebration of CCC’s new office at the Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks – Bucks County Community College, with Rep. Tina Davis, Jennifer Doyle, Rosa Reyes Santiago, Paula Powers-Watts, Jamie Lehman, Laura Jones-Morales, James Sell (Executive Dean, BCCC), Jody Seutter (AVP Academic Affairs, BCCC), Rose Cooper (Director, Epstein Campus).
Credit Counseling Center Executive Director Paula Powers-Watts and members of CCC’s Board of Directors Aret Kalayjian, of Univest, and Anne Slifer, SHRM-SCP, Consultant, attend the Ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate CCC’s new office at the Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks – Bucks County Community College.
Inside Credit Counseling Center’s new office: Executive Director Paula Powers-Watts welcomes supporters from Penn Community Bank. The office is located in the hallway to the right, off the main student concourse, at the Epstein Campus at Lower Bucks – Bucks County Community College.
In 2021, Paula was named Executive Director of Credit Counseling Center. She joined the organization in 2008 as a Credit Counselor and was quickly promoted to Director of Housing Counseling in 2009. Paula is a firm believer that each client is a representation of a family whose lives, financial challenges, and needs are important.
She developed and still leads the Center’s Foreclosure Prevention program; and has partnered with the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Foreclosure Diversion Program. Her keen focus on making a positive impact in the community has generated numerous program collaborations with the United Way of Bucks County and a multitude of social service organizations in the region.
Previously, Paula served 21 on Active Duty in the US Air Force. Initially serving as a combat photographer and finishing the second half of her career as a recruiter, leading to the position of Flight Chief. Highly decorated, she has received awards from the Air Force and the Department of Defense.
An active leader in the Bucks County community, Paula donates her time annually as a board member for the annual Congressional Service Academy Nomination Interviews under the office of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. She is an active Chamber member in Lower Bucks, BucksMont, and Upper Bucks, advocates for financial literacy education opportunities at venues servicing low/moderate income consumers and senior citizen organizations.