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| By Rebekkah Barger, NeighborWorks Umpqua IDA program manager |
The financial future of our children is determined, in part,
by how much they know about money. NeighborWorks Umpqua offers classes that
teach money management skills and financial wellness to our young people between
10 to 17; we call it the “Youth 3As.”
The class introduces financial management concepts at a kid’s level
while allowing participants to earn matching dollars towards their own asset
purchase. Those asset purchases can be anything athletic, artistic, or academic
in nature, hence the name “3As.”Over the years we have worked with many young
people, and I would like to believe that our classes have a long lasting effect.
To be perfectly honest, though, it’s not that often that we hear back from the
kids after they have made their purchase — that is, until I met Morgan and her
sister, Quinn.
Morgan and Quinn contacted our office almost two years ago
and wanted to save for dance lessons. They
had been very good savers, and by the end of the classes had reached their goal
of saving $300 each. This qualified them for our 2:1 match of an additional $600
each — an impressive $1,800 for the two at the end of the program and enough to
pay around 50% of their annual dance lesson costs ($1,500-2000 for each girl
each year).
I didn’t hear about Morgan and Quinn again until a month ago
when Morgan contacted me. She explained
that she was participating in the Miss Outstanding Teen pageant and had chosen financial
education and goal setting as her platform. Her goal, she explained, was to
teach the concept of goal setting and saving to little kids. She had made arrangements with the local Boys
and Girls Club and had even begun writing grants for some start up money. She was off and rolling!
I asked Morgan what inspired her to do this, and she
explained that setting goals and then saving for them feels good. For six
years, Morgan and her sister had been babysitting, dogwalking, selling
doughnuts, doing chores for neighbors and many other fundraising activities to pay
for their own dance classes and school trips. Cumulatively, she and her sister
had raised thousands of dollars.
Morgan liked being able to have the things that mattered to
her, without needing her parents to pay for it. She thought others should learn
to do the same and she is even writing a book about saving. Morgan is a great example of how our programs
create good savers, and good citizens.
For information about Morgan, or other programs offered by
NeighborWorks Umpqua, email Rebekah Barger at rbarger@nwumpqua.org or visit our website at www.nwumpqua.org
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