On June 19, United Way for Greater Austin wrapped up our first financial education workshop series with The City of Austin’s Resource Recovery department as a part the Learn Where You Earn (LWYE) financial planning series.
LWYE is an initiative to partner with local employers to provide education on financial literacy and money management for their employees within the workplace.
Seth Mason, with nonprofit Cornerstone Financial Education, presented information in a three workshop sequence on topics such as improving credit scores, how to read a credit report, managing debt, and creating a household budget.
One participant, Robert Garcia, never made a budget before and had never looked at his credit report – nor did he understand what his credit score meant. He now feels equipped to create a budget, has a good handle on his credit and feels empowered to plan for a buying a home. Through LWYE he will have access to a financial coach to help him continue on his path to home ownership.
Ashley Singh Sawicki, of Velocity Credit Union, also stopped by one of the workshops to discuss how direct deposit can save on check-cashing fees and answer questions about banking. Velocity Credit Union is a member of Bank On Central Texas, a United Way run initiative to bank the unbanked.
With financial education, working individuals have the opportunity to engage their hard-earned dollars into active fiscal success. Although budgeting, repairing credit, and increasing savings are among the top priorities of LWYE, individual growth and less financial stress are also among the benefits. LWYE also offers 1-on-1 coaching sessions to individuals who need extra personal guidance.
If you are interested in the financial education of the LWYE workshop, please contact Faith Ryan, Program Coordinator, at Faith.Ryan@uwatx.org or 512-382-8614.