Graduation Ceremony for Round 2

Hello from Beyond the Bank!

Where to start where to start...

It was a wonderful class and graduation ceremony last night. It was a packed house and we couldn't have been happier about the event.

The class started off with the Financial Instructors opening the floor for any questions. Because most of the students weren't able to attend our class last week, most of the questions circled around consumer credit. As always the Financial Instructors were answering questions that were a bit more technical for the USC students. There was a ton of excitement in the air, especially after one of the students gave us her testimony to the group.

One of the students said after her first class with us, which covered budgeting, she was inspired to save up her money and really monitor her spending. Throughout the 7 weeks she has been with us, she was able to save enough money to buy her own car! She was so thrilled to finally own her own car that she wanted to share her experience with the entire class. After a wonderful testimony from this student, we felt it was time we segue into our graduation ceremony where the TAY would receive their gifts!

As a reminder, in the first Beyond the Bank program we wanted to give the TAY students gifts if they demonstrated a strong attendance record with our training. Unfortunately, we weren't able to obtain enough funding to purchase any gifts. This time around we were able to secure some funding which allowed us to give each of the graduating TAY a $25 gift card to Target (to purchase some professional clothing as they go off to job interviews), a certificate made by JEP USC program and some USC memorabilia. On top of that, we offered LIFT-LA services to each of the TAY. Throughout the training sessions many of the TAY have developed certain dreams and aspirations for their financial health. We know our Advocates would be more than happy to assist the TAY on their journey even after the class has ended. Our goal is to continue the assistance the TAY need even after their time with the Right Way has ended.

LIFT-LA has scheduled appointments with some of the TAY, and we look forward to working with them towards their goals!

Before we dive into the pictures, I want to say what a wonderful second round this was of Beyond the Bank. This was the first time we tried out our new format, and it worked out amazingly well! The Financial Instructors felt more of use, the USC undergraduates felt more connected to the TAY, and the TAY received stellar information from the curriculum. A HUGE thank you to the Right Way Foundation, the USC Joint Educational Project and the Capital Group for working with LIFT-LA to deliver this course. Every single partner played a huge role in making this a huge success, and we're so excited for the next round of Beyond the Bank.

Now here are some pictures from last night's festivities! We'll see you next year when we kick-off our Beyond the Bank Round 3 in February 2014!

Class intently listening to the Financial Instructors' closing remarks

Students and USC undergrads soaking in information

Consumer Credit

Happy Halloween from Beyond the Bank!!

Last night's session focused around Consumer Credit. Now that the students have a solid foundation on our previous topics (budgeting, saving, investing, consumer protection, etc), we wanted our last topic to focus on a subject many of the TAY have been either building or re-building since they turned 18.

Unfortunately, credit card fraud and stolen identities are normal among the TAY community. Because their paperwork is constantly being passed, they are prime targets for criminals to steal their identities, which will then cause them to "commit" credit card fraud under their names. In fact, one of the students has claimed there is a person in Arizona using her name to buy a home. With such vital information being used, it was important for the TAY to attend this session.

But alas, the Universe (or Fate, or whoever controls this vast place we call Earth), had other plans last night. Last night a large number of the TAY attended a job fair with other TAY within Los Angeles. There, the students were eager hopefuls to various entry-level jobs throughout Los Angeles. With that said, the instructors, USC undergraduates and LIFT all understood that their priority had shifted for that night alone.

However, it wasn't a complete loss! We had 3 TAY still attend our class, so we made the best of it. It definitely was a more intimate class, but that just made the conversation a bit more lively. The three 3 students were engaged and felt comfortable enough to share some personal stories of their credit history and how some of them are determined to work on re-building their credit.

Despite the class having only 3 students last night, it was still a fruitful conversation. Next week we will conducting a wrap-up session focusing on any last-minute questions. Also, the USC JEP program was kind enough to let us use their space for next week's graduation!

Stay tuned for next week's last class of Beyond the Bank Round 2!

Saving and Investing pt 2

Hello again!

With another week down we are that much closer to our graduation date. But we'll save the reflective entry for the last post!

This week, we discussed Investing. As said in our previous entry, the students were really engaged in Savings and they were all so excited for the next section, investing. The students haven't really been exposed to investing other than the portrayals constructed by the media, so naturally there were a ton of clarifying questions for the financial instructor.

The information was dense, and the students came up with even more questions than they had in the beginning of the class. The instructor and the USC students answered as many questions as they could with the allotted time, and before we knew it the class had ended.

After the students left our class, it was clearer to us that the investing section of our curriculum needed a bit more tweaking before we could present it in our sessions. Despite those speed-bumps, it was yet another successful class as the students were engaged in the subject matter.

See you all next week!

Saving and Investing pt 1

Hello from the Beyond the Bank program! It has officially been a month since we started the second round of Financial Literacy!

The next two lectures are focused on Saving and Investing. Since these two topics are so dense, our financial instructor wanted to spread this lesson plan over two weeks.

It was good reviewing what we learned in the opening lecture about saving. More and more of the students were engaged in the conversation this time around. They were so fired up about budgeting their daily expenses so they could save up for X, Y or Z. One of the students actually started saving up since day 1! She said she didn't want to tell us what she was saving for, but she said she would tell us as soon as she bought it.

When we closed the class, the TAY were really gearing up for next week's session: Investing. The TAY have heard from different peers they need to invest in certain companies. Next week's session should be informative and arm the students with better information. See you all next week!

Students intently listening to the Financial Instructor

Banking and Checking

Welcome back to the third week of Beyond the Bank series!

 It has been an awesome two weeks, and we want to continue to ride the momentum we started back on our first day of class!! This week's class had a rocky start, but it all worked out in the end.

We ran into some difficulty at the start of class. One of our financial instructors encountered some difficulties coming to our location, and couldn't attend the course. Instead, we had the USC undergraduates run the class. The USC undergraduates were absolutely stellar. They did a quick little icebreaker for the group to get to know each other more, and then they broke the class up into their small groups. Because this week's subject was Banking and Checking, the USC undergraduates discussed different banks (and different kinds of banks) with the Right Way students. The USC undergraduates led their small group discussions and asked the Right Way students what kind of banks they all want to use. Ultimately the discussions led to the USC undergraduates sharing their experiences with their bank accounts and why those accounts fit them well.

As the weeks go on, it's great seeing the Right Way students open up more to the USC undergraduate. Due to so many factors that make up the higher-education arena and the foster care system, these two groups of students would never meet one another in an academic setting. Now that Beyond the Bank program is in full swing, these two groups of students have a platform to educate one another in both financial literacy and life experiences.

Even though we ran into a roadblock at the beginning of class, it ended really well! I'll see you all next week!

A group of students in their break out session.

Proecting themselves with Consumer Rights

Welcome back to the second week of this season's Beyond the Bank series!!

It's good to be back in the swing of things, and we're so eager to document this course with you all!

Last night's lecture was taught by different Capital Group representative, Daniel. Like Aaron, Daniel was with us in the first round of Beyond the Bank series as well and helped the USC undergraduates answer some difficult technical questions throughout the course. His lesson last night covered consumer rights and protective laws.

This time around we also wanted to tailor all of the lesson plans for the Right Way students and make sure we cover material that is relevant to the real world. With that in mind, Daniel engaged the class in identifying loan packages, start-up fees, and potential threats to their financial well-being (more specifically, loan packages that are considered to be "too good to be true"). To compliment this information, the USC undergraduates went over various advertisements to different loans and discussed in their small groups whether or not it would be beneficial to apply for them and if they were scams.

The Right Way students are still engaged and love the information we are delivering to them! It was yet again a great night!

Daniel, our Financial Instructor, giving out tips on how to protect your financial well-being.

Beyond the Bank Round 2

Hello from LIFT-LA!

Now that the Summer months are behind us, it is time for another cycle of Financial Literacy courses! We have teamed up again with the USC Joint Educational Project, the Right Way Foundation and Capital Group to make this course even better . If you need a refresher, here is a link to our first blog entry explaining the beginning of our Financial Literacy course!

After completing the first round of Financial Literacy courses earlier this year, we made some small adjustments to deliver the best quality education we can give to the TAY at the Right Way Foundation. For the first cycle of Financial Literacy courses, the USC undergraduates taught the class and the Financial Experts supported the students by answering any difficult technical questions that may arise. This time around we have slightly reversed that model; the Financial Experts teach the class while the USC undergraduates support the Financial Experts. When we rolled out our first round of Beyond the Bank courses we wanted the USC undergraduates to deepen their relationship with their peers, the Right Way Foundation students. To do that, we carved out time in the course for the two groups of young adults to talk about their experiences with personal finances. This is the class breakdown:

The first 30 minutes of  class is instruction by the Financial Expert, and for the last 20-30 minutes the class breaks out into small -group discussions lead by our USC undergraduates. Each of our undergraduates will have 3-5 students and as a group they will go over various activities (talk about the lecture, fill out budgeting worksheets, going over different loan situations, etc).

With all the plans in place, it was time to begin the program! Last night was our first class for the second round of Beyond the Bank, and it was a complete success!!

Aaron, one of two of our Financial Instructors for this cycle, opened up the class with a simple question: "If you had a choice between taking $100,000 today or accepting a single penny today and then having the penny double every day for 30 days, which would you select?"

Most of the people in the room (USC undergraduates, LIFT staff, the Right Way students), confidently chose the $100,000. After letting everyone choose their sides, it was revealed that choosing the penny would eventually equal to over $5.3 million dollars at the end of 30 days! With a stunned class, Aaron began his first lesson on saving and budgeting.

The Right Way students were still stunned at the answer and were really intrigued on how they could create a budgeting plan to save their money. Aaron went over the basics of saving and budgeting, and told the Right Way students that once they become wealthy, they will hire other organizations to help budget their money. After the lecture, the USC students broke the class up into small groups and they all discussed helpful tips on trying to save and budget their income.

Overall, it was a wonderful night. The Capital Group engaged the students and spoke about financial issues and tools that were relevant to their lives. The USC undergraduates were able to speak to their peers in a relatable way and began to form connections with the Right Way Students.

It's just the beginning of Beyond the Bank part 2! We hope to see you next week!!

Aaron, one of two of the Financial Instructors, asking the class which would they rather have; $100,000 now or a penny that would double for the next 30 days

The few students who chose the penny.

Last Day of Class

It happened! We made it! Today was the last day of the class, and it was such a powerful and fun event tonight!!

As mentioned in the previous entry, our last class was held at the USC campus. The JEP program reserved a space and allowed us to see parts of their beautiful campus.

With excitement in the air, the USC students coordinated a great lesson plan with a final "Jeopardy" game to end the class. The vast majority of the class covered identity theft and how this can affect a person's financial well-being. Unfortunately, there was a student in our class who recently fell victim to identity theft. The students had a ton of questions on how someone can prevent and recover from identity theft since their information in the Foster Care system is frequently passed along from one organization to the next. Our Financial Experts from the Capital Group frequently chimed in with their hints, tips and tricks on how to properly protect sensitive information from identity thieves.

Because the discussion was so lively and every person in the room was engaged, we didn't have time for the Jeopardy game.

One of the directors of the JEP Program with closing remarks.

USC Undergraduates going over the statistics of victims of identity theft.

Instead of playing the final game, we finished up the lesson plan and had our small graduation ceremony! The Transitional Aged Youth were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn about topics they never really were exposed to. As a part of the ceremony, the USC JEP program, the Right Way Foundation and LIFT-Los Angeles awarded each participant with a certificate of completion! Check out one of our pictures below!

 It was a powerful moment in the room. Many of these TAY community members haven't been given the opportunity to prove themselves in their young lives. Having the opportunity to participate in this class with powerful minds in the financial market is something they could not have accessed until the Right Way Foundation, USC JEP and LIFT-LA developed this pilot program.

We also wanted to take some moments to honor and thank our Financial Experts! Thanks to our Financial Experts' dedication to the community, we were able to successfully deliver quality information to the TAY students. They have helped in every single class to make sure the correct details and and information were properly being introduced to the students. They were a huge asset to this program, and the program wouldn't have been a success without their contributions. We have made the Financial Experts honorary LIFTers! Check out their nifty new shirts below!

Lastly, we ended the class with an invitation to the TAY students. Now that they received quality information from this Financial Literacy course, we invited them to come into the LIFT-LA office and learn how to apply what they learned. Some have said they wanted to save up for a car. Some have said they wanted to save up money for college courses. Some have said they wanted to invest! They were all so excited to receive their certificates and stipends, and we wanted to help them form specific goal plans on how to properly use their money and reach their financial goals. A couple of students have already signed up with LIFT, and we are looking forward to working with them!

Thank you all for keeping up with this blog!! Now that our pilot has finished, we are so eager to implement our new cycle of financial literacy courses. We received so much interest from the Capital Group that they would like to teach some classes themselves! It was a successful program, and we are excited to start the new cycle soon.

Lots of love and warmth from Sunny SoCal,
LIFT-LA

Fourth Day of Class

As we near the end of the course, there was a nervous excitement within the class. The USC undergraduates wanted to go through not only their curriculum but also expand on the topics the TAY community members brought up. The TAY community members and the Financial Experts knew there was so much to learn but very limited time left in the course. With the sense of urgency and passion to complete this course the fourth day of class flew by.

The USC undergraduates taught topics in risk, investments, stocks and bonds. With such broad topics with real-world applications the TAY students were engaged and curious throughout the class. Since some of the TAY students expressed interest in investing in stocks and government bonds, our Financial Experts were there to give out tips and advice in this complicated topic.

With lively discussions on such broad and complicated topics all groups were engaged throughout this particular class! The USC undergraduates came to the class extremely prepared with various hand-outs and exercises to help make their points clear and concise.

Our last day of class is next week, which means it's also our graduation ceremony! Because we wanted to give the Transitional Aged Youth a glimpse into USC, we decided to have our last class on their campus. Some of the students have said they want to go to college, more specifically at USC. What a perfect way to end our class with a tour of one of the most prestigious universities in the nation!

It has been a great course so far, and we're excited to see where this course will end next week! Stay tuned!!

best,
LIFT-LA

Third Day of Class

Hello all!

Thank you so much for checking out our blog and reading our updates of our pilot program!! As the 3rd day of class rolled out we noticed the energy levels in the class dip a bit. Students were engaged with the topics of loans and interest rates, but the technicalities of the subject confused some of the students. It wasn't until the USC undergraduates framed the subjects in a way that was applicable to the students; the proverbial light-switch turned on and we were back in business!

As mentioned above the vast majority of our class today focused on loans, interest rates, and a review from last week (credit). The USC students felt more comfortable delivering the information and answering questions this time around, so they didn't turn to the Financial Experts as much as they had the previous lessons.

Speaking of which, we were granted yet another Capital Group volunteer to add to our Financial Expert cohort! All together, we have a cohort of 4 Financial Experts!! They're a small but mighty bunch! It is comforting having them in our classroom as the lessons plans are being implemented. We want the Transitional Aged Youth to not only receive guidance in their finances but also quality information. Knowing we have experts from the Capital Group there with us  to answer questions and clarify often confusing topics is a great asset to the quality of the course.

Even though the beginning of the class was a bit confusing for the TAY community members, they came away from this class more informed about the lesson and looked forward to more guidance from the USC undergraduates and our Financial Experts.

Check out a picture from tonight's class!

Second Day of Class

With a great start to our financial literacy course, both the students and the financial experts were ready at the go for our second day of class.

The USC undergraduates from the JEP program had a better grasp of teaching the students at the Right Way Foundation. They touched on topics like the differences between a debit card and a credit card, how to build credit and how to read a credit report. Like the first class, a lot of questions popped up that would potentially veer the class in a different direction. We compiled a "parking lot" list and decided to build on these questions as the course went on throughout the month.

Also, we received more interested volunteers from the Capital Group this week! In our first class we had one Financial Expert from the Capital Group, but this week we have two more volunteers! It's so great to know our work is sparking an interest in the Capital Group's employees.These Financial Experts truly are making a difference in our community, and we were so happy to have them there with us. There were moments during the class when the USC undergraduates could not answer specific questions concerning credit, so our Financial Experts at the Capital Group stepped up to help teach that portion of the course.

It was a great day, and we were glad we were still riding that wave of determination and thoughtfulness we experienced our first day of class last week.

Stay tuned for another update with our course!

best,
LIFT-LA

Introducing Beyond the Bank 2013

LIFT-LA has partnered with USC, the Capital Group and the Right Way Foundation to bring our community the Beyond the Bank program!

Our partners at the Right Way Foundation (a nonprofit organization  that focuses on revolutionizing the delivery of career development services to the Transitional Age Youth [TAY] community) facilitates workshops for the TAY community on a weekly basis. After working with the Right Way Foundation, LIFT-LA wanted to help their TAY community members by providing classes that will help them in their adult lives.

The Joint Educational Project (JEP) at USC allows its undergraduate students to volunteer hours at a nonprofit organization and share their talents with the community. These talents are wide in range from helping an organization with their social media campaigns, functioning as a tutor for low-income students or even teach a class. The JEP program has been supplying interns to LIFT-LA since our opening, and we wanted engage their undergraduates a bit more in our community. LIFT-LA saw the TAY community at the Right Way Foundation as the perfect population for the JEP students to teach. Also we saw it as a way for LIFT-LA to continue the conversation after the program ended. Ideally, the TAY community members would learn about finances from the JEP students, and then allow LIFT-LA to help them put their financial plans into action. This could be anything from saving for a car or school, opening up a savings account or even apply for 0% interest loans.

Also, we reached out to a LIFT-Boston Alumnus, Stephen Shelton, who is now working with the Capital Group here in Los Angeles. Stephen was so impacted with the work he accomplished at LIFT-Boston that he wanted to maintain his involvement with our organization. When he found out LIFT opened up an office in LA he wanted to connect his company with us, and we saw this as the perfect opportunity to utilize Financial Experts for this course. We have a couple of Financial Experts from the Capital group attend each class with us so they can answer any questions the undergraduates cannot. These detailed questions can be something like, "What is the difference between a savings account at a National bank and a savings account with an online-only bank?" The undergraduates might have some difficulties answering technical questions, but thankfully these Financial Experts from the Capital Group can help them out when these questions come up.

With the JEP students ready to teach and our Financial Experts in place, we were ready to launch our first financial literacy class!

The USC undergraduates were a bit nervous at the beginning of the class, especially since this is a first teaching experience for most of them. As the class went on the Transitional Aged Youth expressed certain interests and asked various questions, which made the class discussions very lively! The undergraduates relaxed a bit more and the rest of the lesson plan went smoothly (especially with the Financial Experts there to help field specific questions the undergraduates could not answer). What was an unexpected bonus was the opportunity for these two very different groups of young adults to come together and exchange ideas. Many members of the TAY community have faced difficult life circumstances, and we see this class as a way to bridge these two groups of young adults and share their cultural experiences.

Overall, the first day of class was a success!

Three days after the class one of the Transitional Age Youth participants came to the LIFT office. He said he was so grateful for the opportunity to learn about banks because he had no idea how those systems worked. He knows how important this information is in his life, and was grateful for the opportunity to learn. He later started inquiring about about LIFT-LA's services. After telling him we are a community resource center that connects clients to various resources all the while having a designated volunteer advocate, he wanted to set up a first appointment. He said he wants to surround himself with positive mentors and set long-term goals. He was so excited to be a part of LIFT that he soon brought his girlfriend to the office so she can set up an appointment as well (she is also a Transitional Aged Youth and a participant in the Beyond the Bank series).

With these four organizations coming together for this special Beyond the Bank program, we are providing a service to a specific population that, unfortunately, often fall through the cracks of our society. Thank you so much to the Capital Group, the Right Way Foundation and the USC JEP program! Here's to many more classes and many more opportunities for our communities!

Check out a pic from the first class!