Community Roundup: Urban Affairs Coalition Financial Wellness Committee, Project WoW at Orleans Tech, OIC SOAR, and more

On July 9, Erin attended a Community & Economic Development of Urban Affairs Coalition Financial Wellness Committee meeting with representatives from other financial institutions to discuss ways to effectively promote financial education virtually. Erin has been creating and sharing valuable resource guides with the subcommittee and also shared her webinar that cautions consumers about falling victim to online financial scams and fraud during COVID-19.

On July 10, Erin hosted a virtual seminar with Project WoW at Orleans Tech where she and students shared personal-finance-related videos from the emerging social media platform, TikTok. The main point of discussion was Krista Zahron’s TikTok, in which she offers viewers a unique way to save $5,050 in one year using just envelopes. She starts with 100 envelopes and writes amounts between 1-50 on all of the envelopes. Each week, she chooses two envelopes, stashes the amount of cash written on the front inside each envelope, seals them, and puts them back in the box. The students thought it was a very innovative way to save, and Erin showed them that it’s just as easy to use this method when creating a budget. She helped them come up with their own unique savings method, where they put the amount for each of their expenses in a separate envelope so they can limit their spending to that specific amount. Erin also hosted a webinar for Achieving Reunification Center staff on July 14, where they discussed other ways to save and how to set personal financial goals.

On July 15, Erin gave incoming Orleans Tech students an introduction to personal finance, banking, and credit basics during their virtual orientation. That day Erin also attended a Philadelphia OIC SOAR program webinar and shared a helpful personal-finance-related video as well as some materials for their weekly newsletter. She shared blank goal setting worksheets for participants and more information on how to build credit so that the students could learn to take ownership of their finances and plan for their financial future.

On July 27, Erin hosted a virtual seminar about basic banking and budgeting with summer youth at Lutheran Settlement House. They discussed savings, goals, and the resources they currently have and can leverage in order to meet those goals. She also continues to work with them to identify what additional resources they need so that they can set financial goals and see them through.