TAMPA, Fla. — During Women’s History Month, one local non-profit organization for girls is going above and beyond to teach the next generation of women how to succeed in controlling their finances.
Pace Hillsborough has a motto, “Believing In Girls.” Now they have these girls believing in the American Dream, thanks to a new partnership with Achieva Credit Union teaching them all about financial literacy.
Course instructor, Corsha Rhodes, with Achieva Credit Union, only wishes she was introduced to a course like this when she was a teenager.
“My parents didn’t teach me about money, I learned about money much later. It’s very important that we get into schools like this where girls may not have that background knowledge,” said Rhodes.
“Many of our girls are going through the most difficult times of their lives, some of our girls have experienced significant trauma, others have mental health needs and others just need some support,” said Davia Lerebours, Executive Director of Pace Hillsborough.
Once a quarter, Rhodes offers the girls at Pace an in-depth financial literacy course that covers everything from budgeting a bank account to building a credit score to applying for college financial aid.
“We just want to make sure that they have every single resource possible at their disposal,” said Rhodes.
“Many of our girls lack the skills necessary to be successful. We are really looking to interrupt the generational cycles of poverty and put our girls on track to be successful,” said Lerebours.
The timing couldn’t be more important as many of these teenagers are already collecting paychecks, working part-time jobs.
“I mean a lot of kids, they grow up, they don’t know what they are doing, and that’s a part of the reason why people don’t have money when they grow up. They don’t know what to do, they’ve never been taught,” said 17-year-old Rhonda Adler, who is taking the course very seriously.
The students say they feel lucky to have an opportunity like this. Right now, they may be girls at school, but soon they hope to be women making history.
“I want to learn how to use my money and know what I want to do with my money,” said 17-year-old Serenity Range.
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