John Hope Settlement House is collaborating with Making Connections Providence to create the Money Smart Kids Clubs Program, a free, after-school financial literacy program that will begin in January.
Students in grades K-12 will be bussed to weekly, one-hour sessions at five local sites, said Rick Keller, coordinator of the Family Economic Success initiative of John Hope Settlement House, a local non-profit organization that helps families in poor financial situations. "The focus is very much hands-on," Keller said.
Making Connections Providence is a ten-year, resident-driven initiative focused on three main Providence neighborhoods - South Providence, Elmwood and the West End, said Claudia Decesare, assistant director of health and development for the Swearer Center for Public Service. It is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a $3-billion organization dedicated to helping children at risk. The foundation's nationwide efforts also include initiatives in Denver, Milwaukee, Seattle, San Antonio and Hartford, Conn.
"What we're trying to do is build the capacity and the self-confidence of low income families in dealing with finances. Without much money it's a very difficult thing," Keller said. "If you reach the kids, you reach the parents."
In a sample lesson, instructors might ask students to complete small chores at home in exchange for payment from their parents. Instructors would then discuss with students plans for using their earnings, Decesare said.
The Money Smart Kids Club's curriculum was developed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and will be taught by members of John Hope Settlement House and Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services. Brown student volunteers also have the opportunity to get involved through the Swearer Center.
"Brown, through the Swearer Center, is making a relationship with Making Connections Providence on many levels. Students would work with John Hope Settlement House staff who are running this program and learn the curriculum to teach these kids," Decesare said.
"The philosophy behind it is to make the economic system more transparent for people at a young age so they know how money works," Decesare said. "The goal is to have more and more people in this country understand more about how economics work, so they won't be susceptible to subprime mortgages and high-interest credit cards and all the trappings of capitalism that people fall prey to, especially people for whom poverty is an issue. ... This might be a really interesting endeavor for Brown students who are interested in exploring economics and poverty and how kids can develop an understanding of that even at a very young age."
But so far, student interest has been low. "I wish that there were more interest. It's been sporadic," Decesare said. "Every couple weeks a student would e-mail me."
Only three students have e-mailed Decesare, who said she hopes eight students will volunteer.
Student volunteers will receive training in both the program's content and general facilitation strategies. The time commitment will be approximately four to six hours per week, Decesare said.
"If some person had participated in an after-school program or had volunteered with kids at camp, any kind of experience they had either educationally or recreationally with kids would be very helpful," Decesare said. "If a student understood the experience of being a first-generation college attendee that would also be very helpful," she said.
"It's an attempt to try to move the needle on the quality of life," Keller said.
