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Weeklong effort begins to increase financial literacy

More than 60 free seminars are being offered during the next eight days throughout DuPage County in an effort to increase residents' understanding of financial matters.

The seminars are part of Money Smart Week. More than 25 area banks, local governments, libraries and other organizations have teamed up to provide the seminars.

Barb Szczepaniak, the DuPage Community Foundation's director of grants, said the event is in its second year in DuPage, and seminar offerings increased significantly because of the lagging economy. Last year, 46 seminars were offered, while 65 are available beginning Saturday and ending April 24. Many of the seminars focus on housing, Szczepaniak said.

"There were more than 9,000 homes in some stage of foreclosure in DuPage County last year," she said. "Clearly there's a need for education in this area and we're trying to address it with these programs."

The foundation is a nonprofit group that provides funding for a variety of cultural, education and social advocacy endeavors.

Other seminar topics deal with credit card debt, retirement, investing and identity protection. There are seminars geared toward longtime homeowners, first-time buyers and even youngsters. For a list of all the seminars, visit moneysmartweekdupage.com.

The DuPage Homeownership Center is coordinating one of the larger programs of the week taking place April 24 in Wheaton. The Home Buyers Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the county administration building at 421 N. County Farm Road is geared toward first-time homebuyer, but it will offer assistance for anyone looking for help, coordinators said.

"The whole idea for this fair is one-stop shopping for people looking to buy a home," said Dru Bergman, executive director of the center. "This fair will offer great information from reputable sources to help everyone become better educated consumers."