When AFFCF first launched the Keys to Financial Success program nearly seven years ago, our aim was to help youth aging out of foster care find employment and earn a livable wage. What we didn’t know then was that these youth needed far more than simply help to find a job.
We’ve learned that young adults in foster care have little to no understanding of credit, making them frequent victims of predatory lending practices and stolen identity. They usually don’t have a trusted family member to teach them how to make good financial decisions. The result is they begin their independent lives already in debt.
A New Course
Enter AFFCF’s Keys to Financial Success – designed specifically to address the financial barriers that youth aging out of foster care face. Through this course, young men and women learn about understanding income, developing saving strategies, understanding credit history, good loan practices and more – all keys to help them be financially independent, productive adults.
Each youth who participated took pre- and post-course assessments to measure what they learned during the session. Having completed the course, they now have the option to work toward a matched saving goal.
One participant said, “This class is making me think about my future and the goals I want to work on.”
Thanks to volunteers, John and Jeni Keane, the first session ended in November, with 10 youth successfully completing the course. For 2021, we are planning to host a new session in each quarter.
How to Help The Keys to Financial Success Mission
Supporting the work of AFFCF’s Keys to Success program is a WIN-WIN! You WIN with a credit on your Arizona state taxes. Young men and women in the program WIN when they learn life-changing skills to help them build successful futures for themselves. Make your charitable tax credit donation to AFFCF today!