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!