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Welcome to my dfree® blog. I hope these thoughts will help someone think new thoughts and take new actions toward their financial freedom. The proverb says that "the borrower is slave to the lender." (Proverbs 22:7) I have dedicated the rest of my life to helping people obtain spiritual and economic freedom.

Dfree Movement Hosts Inaugural Legacy Gala

by Black Star - ET

Global Financial Freedom Organization Commemorates 10th Anniversary with Inaugural Fundraising Gala

Community Star-Studded Event to Highlight Stories of Triumph from the 100K Lives Transformed Through the Dfree Program

DECEMBER 21, 2021 – SOMERSET, NJ – This January, to kick off the season in which the nation pauses to commemorate Black history with celebration and reverence, the Dfree Global Foundation, Inc. will celebrate its 10th anniversary by hosting the first-ever Dfree Legacy Gala & Awards Ceremony. The Dfree organization is the leading financial freedom movement programmed to equip the African American community with the strategies and resources to live a financially empowered life.

Taking place on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 7pmEST at The Palace in Somerset, the Dfree Legacy Gala & Awards Ceremony will feature live entertainment, a special keynote presentation, commendatory remarks, and celebratory awards for leaders from corporate, philanthropic, faith-based, and community sectors while highlighting stories of triumph from individuals who have succeeded using the program. 

“While the Dfree Global Foundation has been a leading service provider in this space, the success and ultimate impact on the financial well-being of our community has been undergirded by the shared commitment of our philanthropic supporters, corporate leaders, and individual contributors fiscally,” said Dfree Founder and Chair Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. who used his own experiences with financial struggles to create the Dfree movement. “Likewise, lives have been transformed because of the equally important, on-the-ground work of our clergy and faith-based leaders, community organizers and servant-leaders, various sorority and fraternity members, and individuals committed to living out and sharing the work of our organization. The Dfree Legacy Gala & Awards Ceremony is our opportunity to shine a light on this great work.”

The Dfree movement works to improve the total financial status of African American individuals, families, churches and communities by addressing the spiritual, psychological, and behavioral root causes of financial issues. To date, the organization has:

  • Trained more than 6,000 leaders and served more than 50,000 families; 
  • Educated more than 8,000 people through the Dfree Online Academy;
  • Helped its community to pay down more than $34M in debt and save more than $1.2M through the Dfree Billion Dollar Challenge platform;
  • Awarded more than $20k in debt paydown prizes and scholarships;
  • Provided Dfree curriculum and resources to people in Haiti, Jamaica, Ghana, and South Africa, and;
  • Solidified national partnerships with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and a host of other community organizations and churches.

As the Dfree Global Foundation continues to meet the needs of its communities with a life changing financial freedom movement, it must continue the important work to disrupt the current projected trajectory of Black Americans having a zero median net worth by 2053. The Dfree movement is determined to close the racial wealth gap one family at a time.

Funds raised from the Dfree Legacy Gala & Awards Ceremony will support the training of new leaders, new website enhancements, expansion of the organization’s educational technology platform buildout, course and content updates, and more. 

Individual ticket prices start at $125, with virtual streaming options starting at $50. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information about the Dfree Global Foundation and/or to purchase tickets or sponsorship, click here.

Media Contact:

Jasmine Walden 

908-370-5196

jwalden@mydfree.org

Global Financial Freedom Organization Sets Out to Help 4,000 African American Families Achieve Financial Freedom by Year-End

by Black Star - ET

Annual Leadership Retreat to Detail Steps for Collective Mobilization and Individual Financial Progression

SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY – September 13, 2021 – Pioneer of faith-based community development and champion of economic empowerment for African Americans, DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., announced today his goal of helping 4,000 Black families get their financial health in order by December 31, 2021. Founder and chair of the dfree® Global Foundation Inc. , Soaries wants to close the racial wealth gap one family at a time. That is the theme and call to action for the organization’s virtual leadership conference taking place September 17th and 18th.

Since 2005, dfree® has provided lifestyle-focused financial empowerment through curriculum, programming, online tools, access to professionals, live events and more to nearly 100,000 individuals.

“We are on a critical mission to annihilate the wealth gap statistics that have been placed on us as a race,” said Soaries, who used his own experiences with financial struggles to create the dfree® Movement. “Right now, the net wealth of the typical Black family is 1/10 of that of a white family. That is unacceptable. dfree® is armed to help our people change this narrative.”

dfree® has seen success in using a “business to business to consumer” model to spread the gospel of financial freedom through various national, local, and even global partnerships. This year’s virtual leadership conference will highlight some of these partners to share best practices of implementing dfree®’s program into faith-based organizations, community organizations, corporations and more. Title sponsor and partner, RWJBarnabas Health, the largest, most comprehensive academic health care system in New Jersey, has offered dfree® to its 35,000 employees since 2019.

“In its commitment to end systemic racism, RWJBarnabas Health has prioritized racial, ethnic and cultural equity for communities of color” said Barry H. Ostrowsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of RWJBarnabas Health. “RWJBarnabas Health’s investment in the dfree® Academy will help Black families as they begin to develop sound strategies to build wealth for themselves, their families and generations to come,” Ostrowsky said.

“Aligned with RWJBarnabas Health’s aim to dismantle systemic racism within its healthcare system, a concentrated focus on building wealth and stimulating economic growth within communities of color is critical. dfree® offers a powerful resource to equip our workforce, patients, and community with the skills to overcome that which may have encumbered they and their families for generations; thus, improving

health, social, economic and educational outcomes,” said DeAnna Minus-Vincent, Executive Vice President, Chief Social Justice & Accountability Officer.

In response to the new normal of COVID-19 where most events are virtual, this year, dfree® launched its all-new online Academy, which features free, culturally-relevant financial lifestyle education. Acknowledging that debt elimination is the first step to wealth creation, dfree® takes users through 12-steps to address their full financial pictures. It is through this platform that the organization plans to reach 4,000 African American families so that they can begin to take control of their finances and create a positive relationship with money, all in an effort to close the racial wealth gap.

Other partner highlights include Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and dfree® in Africa. Free and open to all, individuals will leave the retreat with solid steps for collective mobilization and action items for financial progression.

For more information and to register for the dfree® Leadership Retreat and the dfree® Online Academy, please visit dfreefoundation.org.

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About dfree® Financial Freedom Movement:

As the only faith-based, wealth-building system specifically designed with the Black community in mind, dfree® delivers access to financial freedom using a variety of tools to educate, motivate and support people who make the choice to achieve and sustain financial freedom. dfree® began as a faith-based initiative to help stem an epidemic of overspending, particularly in the African-American community. It has since grown into a movement that gives participants the ability to handle their own financial responsibilities; willingness to help others do the same; and capacity to leave assets for future generations.

In the tradition of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., dfree® also is a movement to help achieve economic justice in America. Dr. King once said, “We must never let it be said that we spend more for the evanescent and ephemeral than for the eternal values of freedom and justice.” dfree® emphasizes controlling money matters so that individuals have the freedom to focus on more purposeful pursuits.