April is U.S. National Financial Literacy Month! Reaching financial stability can be difficult in many vulnerable populations such as the youth that IMPOWER provides services to. Youth at our Grove program learn the importance of money management principles to achieving life goals. At The Village, young adults cut unnecessary spending, improve their credit and increase their saving to prepare for life on their own.

Through these programs, our youth have been able to achieve individual success! Some successes from The Village include Aldrena and Weslet.

Aldrena has been saving her money faithfully to buy a car. She started applying for car loans but did not have enough credit history and the history that she did have made her ineligible. Under the guidance of staff/volunteers, she worked through the collection and sent good will letters (she was homeless at the time she damaged her credit). She was encouraged to start using a credit union and opened a secured card with a portion of the money she had saved. We are so proud of Aldrena and happy to inform you that her financial journey has led her to being a car owner!

Weslet had more than $10,000 saved prior to moving out of The Village, learning lessons about the importance of budgeting and saving money while he was at The Village. Through his hard work and ability to put much of what he earned away, he saved enough to purchase his own vehicle with cash. In the late summer of 2021, at age 20, he picked up the keys to his own apartment. By that time, he had enough money saved to pay for his application fee, security deposit and first/last month’s rent for the apartment

We look forward to continuing to teach topics such as budgeting, responsible spending, using credit, finding a dream job, and saving money while providing our youth with valuable life skills.

To learn more about our Village program and youth, visit our program page or attend our free breakfast!