MIAMI-In just over two weeks, one credit union here opened more than 2,000 new savings accounts - and all of the account holders are between the ages of 14-24.
In its latest initiative to reach out to lower-income youth, South Florida Educational FCU worked with the local school district and South Florida Workforce's Summer Youth Employment Program to setup a "one-stop shop" at Miami High School that gave the young employees the opportunity to sign up for a student savings account and direct deposit so their earnings over the course of the program could be saved.
Credit union employees also took the time to speak with the students individually about how to manage their finances properly. "We took advantage of having the kids in front of us one-on-one as we explained the basics of a checking account, a savings account, what a credit union is and what the credit union advantage is," said spokesperson Loren Llanes. "As an educational credit union we feel that it is our social responsibility. Those kids don't receive this education at home or in the school system. A lot of those kids don't know any better so they do get involved in risky loans and they perpetuate that cycle. Our goal is to help them avoid the mistakes their parents or other role models may have made."
The engagement during the summer employment program is only the latest move by the CU to speak directly to the young people of Miami-Dade County. Over the last two years, South Florida Educational FCU has continued its "Got Green?" financial literacy program. Llanes and a few of her colleagues conduct educational workshops in the south Florida high schools and colleges, mainly in lower-income areas.
"Our main objective is to educate them and we find that by going to the schools they learn to trust us because we aren't selling to them," Llanes said. "They are getting the information from an objective standpoint."
The program has reached nearly 16,500 students since its inception, including 9,204 during the previous school year. And 3,000 of those students participated in the CU's Success Academy, a program that helps students prepare for the FCAT, which led to a net gain of 2,464 student accounts as participants flocked to the credit union after completing the course. Just 280 of those individuals closed their accounts since they were opened in December.
South Florida Educational FCU even has a scholarship program that gives 15 lucky members full rides to a four-year institution. Any young member who has been with the credit union for a year is eligible. "We base it on a raffle so when the kids apply and they are assigned a number and we just draw it out of a hat," Llanes explained. "It's not based off of grades, income or how much money they have in their accounts; they just have to have $5."
