Voices From the Heart: Funding the Future
Voices From the Heart: Funding the Future
Can you balance your checkbook - on the first try?
Can you fill out your own income tax forms?
Do you read all the fine print in your utility bills?
As adults, you and I have learned to manage our personal finances pretty well.
But what if we had reached adulthood without any experience in these tasks? That is the situation many of our clients find themselves in. And their lack of experience is the focus of major new educational initiatives at UCAN.
Working with the Chicago Department of Children and Youth Services, Loyola University, and the University of Illinois-Chicago, we are offering our clients Economic Mentoring. The project is supported by a grant from the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
"We're evolving. This is different for us," says Ellen Acevedo, ULEAD's Peer Mentoring and Educational Coordinator. In the past, Acevedo has organized workshops at local churches and schools where young people and adults can drop in for information and instruction.
This approach made the workshops both abstract and very personal at the same time. People came with specific problems, received some advice, and moved on. Larger issues of financial literacy, at times, could not be addressed.
Along with large workshops, this collaboration will provide one-on-one mentoring. An integral part of the Economic Mentoring Program will incorporate service learning to be coordinated by Building with Books. The new system will provide more continuity for our clients and help them build and improve financial skills. The service component of the program will help to expand our youth's knowledge of how others live and use money. Events will be held all over the city in the one-on-one mentor opportunities, service learning, and financial literacy workshops.
But what really makes this program different is that clients will be given real money to invest with -- $300 to develop and manage a real cash portfolio. At the end of the program, each youth will decide how to spend the profits he or she has earned through smart investing.
Acevedo is looking for individuals who can be either one-on-one mentors to our clients or group facilitators on whatever your schedule permits. You don't have to be Warren Buffett - just interested in working with people who want to learn. This should be a great learning process for all of us. Some of us might sign up to learn ourselves!
If you are interested in becoming an economic mentor, contact Ellen Acevedo.
Learn more about the Economic Mentoring Program.
A Savings Account for Every Child - On the Way to a Reality in Illinois?
Imagine if every child in Illinois had a savings account that could be used to pay for college, help them buy their first home, or start a business. The Illinois Asset Building Group, a program of the Heartland Alliance, has proposed an innovative new way to help this become a reality. Children's Savings Accounts (CSA) are savings and investment accounts for children that help ensure that all children have the opportunity for lifelong learning and asset building. Opened at birth with an initial deposit and linked to financial education, CSAs have the ability to enhance children's aspirations, parents' hopes, and teachers' expectations, providing opportunities for the next generation.
"All young people, not just those with limited means, must start saving early if they are to be successful later in life..." said State Representative Marlow Colvin, chief sponsor of the legislation that passed the General Assembly.
"It is a wise investment to support an increase in the number of children who save and can actively pursue their dreams..." said Senator Dale Risinger, co-sponsor of the legislation.
For more information about Children's Savings Accounts or the Illinois Asset Building Group, please contact Chris Giangreco, Policy Coordinator for Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights at 773.336.6073