Excelsior

Posted by Gloria Reynolds 
on Sep 12, 2012
 

Money Smart Training at Excelsior Youth Centers, Inc.

 

On December 1, 2005, the Lodo Rotary Club launched a Money Smart Training project spearheaded by Gloria Reynolds.  The training provides adolescent girls with the money management skills necessary to be self sufficient in life.  During the school semester’s trainings are held every other week.  Training sessions consist of presentations, question and answers, and visiting the gift shop (Gloria’s Gift Shoppe) where the practice making real purchases, writing checks on their Money Smart accounts.  It is by far the most popular portion of the training.  They can purchase stationary items, notepads, pencils, highlighters, and of course candy, one of the favorites from the store. The checks used for the purchase are then listed in their check registers.

 

The Money Smart training builds knowledge, security, and confidence. 

Participants learn:

 

  • How to build a relationship with a financial institution;
  • How to open and keep a checking account;
  • The importance of saving money; and
  • The importance of having a bank account instead of utilizing a check cashing checking agencies with outrageous fees.

 

Lo Do Rotary volunteers spend every other week at Excelsior going over managing money with the girls. The girls are between 16-18 years of age, many of whom will graduate soon and go out into the community to live on their own.

 

 

We have seen the girls benefit from this training in numerous ways:

 

·         They are more confident in asking questions to a banker.

·         They understand the process of opening an account.

·         They are capable of maintaining their bank records.

·         They know the importance of having a bank account and cashing their checks there vs. a check cashing agency.

·         They know the importance of maintaining their accounts to keep their credit references in good standing in case they decide to apply for loans or credit.

·         They understand the importance of saving a percentage of their money.