Strength and willingness to strive to survive are great qualities for anyone to have. I found those qualities quite refreshing in one of the clients I came to know in the career center where I serve as the Financial Opportunities Coach. Here we serve both youth and young adults (ages 16 to 24), giving them the encouragement and tool to jumpstart their careers.
Imagine being a young single mom with a young impressionable daughter having the courage to leave her supports on the west coast and choose to venture to North Carolina to start life afresh. Well I met such an incredible single mom who said her inspiration is to make a better life for herself and her daughter. She and her daughter are currently living in a shelter, but are expected to move into their first apartment very soon, and mom started her first job.
Coaching young people is not quite like coaching older adults. They are not big on appointments and told how they should do something. Young people prefer space to decide if the information and options you have presented are relevant to them and their circumstances. My young single mom was no different, telling someone about budgets or spending habits is hard to conceive when you haven’t had your first job or paycheck.
Over time she began to get comfortable enough to confide in me. I began to learn the intracule details of her spending habits. She does have a checking account but no one had ever discussed with her things like balancing your checking account, overdrafts, or other bank charges. So, first of all I explained to her how banking works.
I gave her some worksheets on budgeting, creating an emergency savings, and even preparing for retirement. I also gave her a handout on choosing a banking institution and the many services banks and credit unions offer. Well, this week she starts her first job, will soon receive a paycheck, and finally move out of the shelter into her very own apartment.
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