While many kids across the Grand Strand were sleeping in on their first week of summer, several teens were awake early and ready to invest in themselves. Through the collaboration of many community partners, the Lifelong Impacted Teens attended classes on personal finance during their first three weeks of summer.
Thanks to a partnership with the City of Myrtle Beach’s Neighborhood Services Department, the classes took place at Myrtle Beach Historic Colored School Museum and Education Center on Dunbar Street.
The eight sessions offered focused on a variety of topics:
- Intro to Personal Finance
- Budgeting Basics
- Saving Money
- Making Money Goals
- Credit & Debt
- Financial Services
- Housing & Real Estate
- Investing and Retirement
As the teens learned about these topics, we saw many “mind-blown” moments. They participated in a “compound interest” race between investors their age and a decade older. They calculated the cost of living and learned how to interact with banking products wisely. They learned about emergency savings, credit scores, and how to grow their money in the market.
This class was organized by Habitat for Humanity of Horry County’s Neighborhood Revitalization program, as a response to the BTW Neighborhood Quality of Life Plan.
The Lifelong Impacted Teens program is run out of Pepper Geddings Recreation Center and is led by Ja’Net Wade, the Youth Coordinator in Recreation Services. Each day, 5-10 students from the program were present and deeply engaged in the lessons. They asked great questions! A handful of local professionals taught class:
- Tiffany Crawford, HFHHC Board Member & South Atlantic Bank
- Kris & Anna Locke, SmartPro Investment Advisor, Dave Ramsey Certified
- Kendra Darity, Anderson Brothers Bank & Coaching by Kendra
- Kelly Martin Tyler, Bank of America
- Kevin Grant, Realtor and Real Estate Investor
In total, 39 hours of financial literacy were provided at the Museum and Education Center, which is located within the BTW Neighborhood, where the HFH NR team is currently focusing their coalition partnerships for enhanced quality of life.
We owe a special big thanks to CRG (HFHHC Board Member Sarah Moniz) for providing the funding for the Foundations in Personal Finance teen curriculum!
Do you know a group of teenagers that can benefit from this program this summer? Please reach out to Danielle Lewis! 843.999.1453 or [email protected]
