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.