As former New Jersey Secretary of State and Senior Pastor of one of New Jersey’s most robust churches, Reverend DeForest Soaries is a faithful advocate for financial wellness. “When you are paying last month’s bills with next week’s check, when you’re drowning in consumer debt, you’ve lost options and lost control of your life. You’re existence promotes the welfare of others,” Soaries said. “We have to have this conversation. The reality is that we’re spending without thinking. Most Americans in general, and African Americans in particular, live without a budget. We don’t have spending plans or savings. We have no emergency fund. We don’t have a retirement plan or investments. In a capitalistic society, to have no capital capacity is to be non-existent.”
It is with this passion to help people stop being “non-existent” that Reverend Soaries launched dFree, a financial freedom movement that addresses the cultural, psychological and spiritual influences on financial wellness and offers practical strategies for achieving financial success. Part of the dFree movement, which has already assisted in thousands of participants totally eliminating their debt, is an annual conference that brings together experts from around the country to facilitate workshops that provide practical insights about budgeting and debt reduction. The 5th annual dFree Conference, “Say Yes To The Next Level”, will be held November 10 – 12 at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Central New Jersey. The Saturday sessions are geared towards youth, and are free to high school and college students.
“Say Yes To The Next Level” Speakers include:
- Erica Campbell, the Grammy Award-winning recording artist & singer who formed the gospel duo “Mary Mary”Michelle Duffie, the CEO of D3 Entertainment who promoted blockbusters such as “War Room” and “Risen”
- Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, the journalist who is known as The Money Coach
- Navarrow Wright, president of Maximum Leverage Solutions
- Kevin Johnson, Sacramento mayor and former NBA player
- DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., senior pastor, author and creator of the dfree® Financial Freedom Movement
- Dharius Daniels, senior pastor, Kingdom Church of New Jersey
- Billy H. Stanfield, Jr., senior pastor, Impact Church in Georgia
- Jay Cameron, senior pastor, The Life Center in Maryland
- Kemberley Washington, CPA, author, educator and personal finance news contributor
In a special video invite to the conference, Erica Campbell says: “I’m particularly excited because I will be performing at the dfree® awards ceremony concert.”
“Say Yes to the Next Level” will challenge conference participants to take existing dfree® tools and strategies to the next level of financial freedom and wellness. The conference will encourage participants to reevaluate personal values, habits, attitudes and relationships in order to prepare themselves to move toward financial wholeness. The $40 registration fee for the conference includes lunches and can be submitted online via: http://bit.ly/2cLAyxb.
The title sponsor for the conference is Prudential Financial, with Wells Fargo, Lyft, Stand Together, Griffin Capital Funding and others also participating as sponsors.
About dfree®:
Founded in 2005, 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.
About Reverend Soaries:
dfree® Creator DeForest B. Soaries Jr. is the founder of the dfree® Global Foundation, Inc. He is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey and former New Jersey Secretary of State. 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 $1 billion in consumer debt.
