dfree® helps reduce more than $30 million in debt

(SOMERSET, N.J. – April 29, 2021) More than $30 million in debt has been erased from primarily African American communities in the United States thanks to the Billion Dollar Challenge, a critical component of the dfree® financial freedom movement that advocates for financial justice to uplift Black people and their communities. No other movement has been able to reduce this amount of debt in the Black community.

“Debt equates to modern day slavery for Black families,” said dfree® Global Foundation, Inc., Founder DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. “Eliminating more than $30 million in debt breaks the chains for thousands, and keeps us on the path to closing America’s unjust wealth gap.”

The movement crossed over the $30 million mark on April 19, which is a significant date in Black history for many occasions including: free Black Patriots skirmish with Minutemen at Lexington and Concord, during initial battles of Revolutionary War, in 1775; Cheyney University founded, in 1837; birthday of Pierre Caliste Landry, the first African American elected mayor of a U.S. town (Donaldsonville, LA in 1868); National Urban League formed, 1910; Jackie Robinson became the first African American major league baseball player, in 1947; Maj. Gen. Federic E. Davidson assumed command of the Eighth Infantry Division in Germany and became the first African American to lean an army division, in 1960; Congresswomen Shirley Chisholm and Cardiss Collins became founding member of the Congresswomen’s Caucus, 1977; Max Robinson became the first African American to anchor network news, in 1978.

dfree® Executive Director Tamika Stembridge, Esq., said a new national partnership between dfree® and the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority helped tip the scales over the $30 million debt reduction mark.

“This financial freedom movement has been a phenomenal success because of the partnerships we have, particularly with traditionally Black organizations like sororities and the Black church,” Stembridge said. “There is tremendous value in tackling financial (and life) challenges in community with others. We encourage anyone who is ready to transform their life and their money to consider dfree®!”

Zeta International President Valerie Hollingsworth Baker lauded dfree® as a “wealth-building system specifically designed with the black community in mind. dfree® uses a variety of tools to educate, motivate and support people who make the choice to achieve and sustain financial freedom.”

Also this year, dfree® witnessed the first graduates from its dfree® Academy, 125 individuals.

About dfree®:

Founded in 2005 and run by the dfree® Global Foundation, Inc., dfree® is a financial freedom movement that addresses the cultural, psychological and spiritual influences on financial wellness and offers practical strategies for achieving financial success. dfree® was featured by CNN in a 90­-minute documentary, "Almighty Debt," an installment of the "Black in America" series, hosted by Soledad O'Brien. The dfree® strategy is being used by hundreds of churches and organizations worldwide. For more information about dfree® visit www.mydfree.org and follow the hashtag, #dFreeNextLevel, on social media.

About Soaries:

Rev. Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr. is known as an active agent for change and is a widely requested speaker. He is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey and former New Jersey Secretary of State. His pastoral ministry focuses on spiritual growth, educational excellence, economic empowerment and faith-based community development. Soaries, author of Say Yes to No Debt: 12 Steps to Financial Freedom, has issued a Billion Dollar Challenge as a national initiative and free resource to help individuals and families collectively pay down millions in consumer debt.