Adulting 101 Recap

We are so excited to announce the completion of our Adulting 101 cohort! As our mentees have started to move out of high school and start their adult lives, they asked for more resources for this transition. Many are financially responsible for bills while also being in school full time. We want to start creating opportunities for youth to build this wealth so they can make a change and teach others.

We held four different workshops, two in March and two in April. Our first two workshops were held by Jasmine, our co-founder, and ED. She led our youth through a money-healing and budgeting workshop. Stephanie, our board president, led our third workshop surrounding the credit building. The last session was led by Mariel of Money for Mujeres, which introduced investing and opening up their Roth IRA accounts.

Here are some thoughts from our participants on the impact of Adulting 101:

Maya, Spring 21’ Mentee

“After Adulting 101 I can proudly say that I have saved so much money by tracking my spending habits. Additionally, I have started my Roth IRA and believe I can retire a millionaire. There is so much I have learned from just over 4 weeks and how I can apply it to the rest of my life.”

Tracy, Spring 22’ Mentee

“Adulting 101 really helped me conceptualize my future in ways I didn’t think possible. This short, but valuable workshop helped me understand the ins and outs of being a young adult and did what I feel like wonders for my success going forward.”

Thank you to our facilitators and youth for showing up with curiosity and compassion!

Adulting 101 | Credit Building

For our third session of Adulting 101, a youth financial wellness cohort, we held a credit building workshop. This was led by our very own Board President, Stephanie Gill! Not only is she our board president, Stephanie serves as Director of Financial Wellness at a local nonprofit!

First, Stephanie led our young adults through some vocabulary terms and definitions when it comes to credit. Then she went into a couple tips on what cards to get, how to build your credit, and how to keep a high score. The youth showed great interest by asking curious questions. Thank you Stephanie for leading a great workshop for us!

PMSA | Mental Health Kit Giveaway

Last week the TFD Team visited Proviso Math and Science Academy giving away mental health kits! This was our third visit to PMSA. A new batch of students received a kit at lunchtime. We heard great things about our kits from students who got one before. One impactful story was about a student who used our fidgets to help her focus in class and it helped improve her grade! These are the types of stories we love to hear and share. If you or you know a student who has gotten a kit, send us a DM on our Instagram (@thefirehousedream).

We have now given away 675 mental health kits! Thanks to our team for helping us with giveaways! Follow us on our Instagram and Facebook to see updates!

Adulting 101 | Budgeting

For our second session, Jasmine Lopez, our Co-Founder and Executive Director, led the Adulting 101 youth cohort through all things budgeting. First, Jasmine talked about categorizing the youth’s finances through PocketGaurd, a budgeting app, or Google spreadsheets. After, Jasmine said although it may be hard to look at your spending habits, it is good to start seeing where you spend more or less which would help them create their budgets. Right after, Jasmine started helping everyone create their own budgets. Then, with whatever money was left over for savings, Jasmine helped create a plan for saving toward those dreams that were previously identified in the money-healing workshop.

Thank you Jasmine for leading the first half of our first Adulting 101 cohort. Your knowledge and grace will continue to impact our community.

Adulting 101 | Money Healing

One of TFD’s pillars to complete our mission is education about financial wellness. In a community where 26k is our average income, we want to create opportunities for youth to learn good financial habits now to achieve financial freedom in the future. Along with this goal, we asked our youth what they wanted to learn before starting adulthood. Hence, Adulting 101 was started.

This workshop, Jasmine Lopez, Co-founder and Executive Director led the youth through a money-healing workshop. The purpose was to reframe your thoughts about money in order to achieve “limitless dreaming”. Jasmine talked about creative provision as well, which is using resources around you and faith that one day you will receive what you wish for. Then, the youth made limitless goals of what they wanted. Some stated traveling, building their own business, and living in beautiful houses. Check out the pictures below for the full story!

Thank you so much Jasmine for continuing to be vulnerable with your story to show others and our youth how success is anything you put your mind to.