RICHMOND, Va.--Virginia Credit Union has been awarded a $60,000 grant from the National Credit Union Foundation to offer an intensive six-week personal finance course for older youth in foster care and provide these young people an opportunity to kick-start their personal savings.
“Learning how to plan, budget, save and spend wisely are personal finance skills that help us achieve financial well-being and financial security. While VACU and other organizations have made tremendous strides during the past two decades to create youth-focused financial education programs and readily available personal finance resources, so many money management lessons are learned and reinforced in the home,” says Cherry Dale, senior vice president for financial education at VACU. “We recognized that young people in foster care may need a helping hand to successfully transition from foster care to financial independence as an adult. We’re grateful to the National Credit Union Foundation for enabling us to help what is a financially vulnerable population.”
Virginia Credit Union will host three six-week Financial Education for LIFE programs and anticipates reaching as many as 30 youth and young adults in foster care through the programs. In-person programs are planned in Richmond and Lynchburg, with an additional virtual cohort. A partnership with United Methodist Family Services of Virginia Project LIFE program is making the VACU initiative possible. This organization is helping identify potential program participants, most of whom will be ages 15 to 19.