Putting Their Piggy Banks to Work
Eight-year-old Rickey is focused on saving for college.
Six-year-old Mia is already saving for her first car.
Eight-year-old Gracie’s goal is even more ambitious.
“I’m saving for a house,” Gracie says. “So far, I have $13, plus my birthday money.”
Learning how to manage money early is key to a strong financial future. Hope Credit Union’s Take Flight child savings program teaches children like Rickey, Mia, and Gracie how to save and spend money wisely.
HOPE gives children whose parents enroll them in Take Flight their own savings accounts, complete with a $50 deposit from HOPE to get them started. The children and their families participate in a free financial literacy program that includes fun-filled educational activities for children and valuable tips for parents on improving the family’s finances.
Take Flight is held in partnership with the Mississippi Children’s Museum in Jackson and the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola. The program is also offered through Springboard to Opportunities, a Jackson-based nonprofit that serves families living
in subsidized housing.
Children who participate in Take Flight agree to leave their money in savings until they turn 18. As they see their money grow, the children
become more excited by saving than by spending, proudly bringing their piggy banks into HOPE branches to make regular deposits.
“This program teaches children that you can’t always get what you want right away,” says Elsie McCoy, whose daughter, 7-year-old Johkeria, is enrolled in Take Flight. “That’s an important lesson. I’m so thankful to HOPE for this program. HOPE is the only financial institution I’m aware of that makes an effort to reach out to kids and their parents.”
“Take Flight is teaching my children responsibility and helping them think about the future,” agrees Michelle Robins, who has two children
enrolled in the program. “I wanted to take them out to lunch today, but they said, ‘No, you have to cook instead of spending money in a restaurant.’” Robins adds with a laugh, “I guess it’s working out for them better than it’s working out for me.”
When Kyria Gant learned about Take Flight at the Mississippi Delta school where she works as a teacher, she didn’t hesitate to enroll her daughter, Mia.
“It’s hard to make a living in the Delta. That can automatically put you at a disadvantage when it comes to thinking about your future,” Gant says. “There are a lot of children here whose parents don’t or can’t invest in their futures because they’re barely making it themselves. HOPE’s child savings program is the jump start those children and their parents need.”
A Life Changed by Good Will
Seduced by the lure of easy money and the rush of life on the edge, Felipe Merla began selling drugs when he was just 9 years old.
After completing his fourth prison stint at the age of 56, Merla enrolled in the Transitional Employment Opportunity Program, a partnership between Goodwill Industries in Little Rock, Ark. and HOPE that assists those returning to life after time in prison. The voluntary, 16-week program pays returning citizens to work at Goodwill while participating in counseling programs. Participants’ paychecks are deposited directly into accounts established at HOPE.
“HOPE is an integral part of this program,” says Kim Hogue of Goodwill Industries. “These returning citizens have no money, no credit. They’ve burned every bridge. HOPE is a financial institution that’s willing to give them a second chance.”
Merla admits that when he initially enrolled in the Transitional Employment Opportunity Program, he had little hope he could change – or that he really wanted to change.
“My plan was to work the program for a month, make some money, then go back to selling drugs,” Merla says. “But as the weeks went by, I started to relate to the people from Goodwill and HOPE who were trying to help me. I was getting a chance to establish something new with people who really cared. I realized then that I couldn’t abandon this program. I wouldn’t be failing them. I’d be failing myself.”
After completing the transitional program, Merla landed a permanent job at Goodwill Industries as a forklift driver. “I’m driving a forklift for $10 an hour and sometimes I think about how I could make $2,000 or $3,000 in a couple of hours on the street. But I want to change my life and my attitude.
“I have grandkids, and I can still do something right for them. I didn’t do it for my kids, but I can do it for my grandkids. Everything in my life is changing because of the grace of God and the people he has put around me.”