PRESS RELEASE
Embargoed until September 15, 2008
CONTACT: Dr. Amy Sherman, Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute
O: 434-293-5656; Email: ALSherman@ntelos.net; Cell: 434-825-1497
Innovative Financial Literacy Program Improves Inner City Youth's Economic Survival Skills
Local chapter of national demonstration project shows 30% gains
INDIANAPOLIS, IN. A financial education initiative engaging over 200 low-income Indianapolis youth has significantly increased students' understanding of the money management skills needed in today's challenging economy, according to recent findings by the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research. The Ele:Vate Indy's Youth program, directed by Sagamore and sponsored locally by National City Bank, The Indianapolis Fund, an affiliate of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the Mary E. Ober Foundation, has produced a remarkable 30% increase in financial literacy scores among participating students.
"Financial literacy among American youth is abysmal," explains project director Dr. Amy Sherman of the Sagamore Institute. "On national exams grading 'basic financial survival skills,' students routinely get more than half of the questions wrong. This ignorance sets youth up for major financial problems down the road, such as credit card indebtedness and vulnerability to predatory lenders."
Indianapolis implementers, including The Oaks Academy, Shepherd Community Center, Wheeler Mission Ministries, and Oasis of Hope Community Development Corporation, were part of the national Ele:Vate demonstration program, which has engaged over 1,100 urban youth from five cities. Program directors cite positive changes in student saving and spending behavior, as well as increased participation in constructive youth activities, as the project's main results. Oasis CDC's LaShanda Rorie comments, "One high-school senior at the end said 'Thank you, I needed this' about the budgeting she learned regarding bank accounts vs. paycheck cashing stores." Other students, too, recognized the program's value. As Blaine Crabtree from The Oaks Academy put it, "America is really in debt. I think this class might help us not be in so much debt and to avoid it."
Indianapolis' successes through this program come at a time when observers are increasingly concerned about America's debt culture, marked by the recent mortgage crisis and the proliferation of payday lending at usurious rates. Sixty-two prominent leaders and scholars recently signed onto a report by the Institute for American Values entitled "For A New Thrift: Confronting The Debt Culture" to highlight the current crisis. Inner-city Indianapolis is feeling the effects of the national disease: it is among the top five urban communities nationwide in foreclosures. "The Ele:Vate Indy's Youth program is helping to create a future generation of financially literate Hoosiers that can help lead their communities into greater economic health," says Jay Height of the Shepherd Community Center.
Dr. Sherman and local program implementers will speak on the initiative at a briefing entitled "Creating Financially Literate Hoosiers: A Successful Urban Youth Initiative," on Wednesday, September 17 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the WFYI Teleplex (Community Room).
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Embargoed until September 15, 2008
CONTACT: Dr. Amy Sherman, Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute
O: 434-293-5656; Email: ALSherman@ntelos.net; Cell: 434-825-1497
Innovative Financial Literacy Program Improves Inner City Youth's Economic Survival Skills
Local chapter of national demonstration project shows 30% gains
INDIANAPOLIS, IN. A financial education initiative engaging over 200 low-income Indianapolis youth has significantly increased students' understanding of the money management skills needed in today's challenging economy, according to recent findings by the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research. The Ele:Vate Indy's Youth program, directed by Sagamore and sponsored locally by National City Bank, The Indianapolis Fund, an affiliate of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the Mary E. Ober Foundation, has produced a remarkable 30% increase in financial literacy scores among participating students.
"Financial literacy among American youth is abysmal," explains project director Dr. Amy Sherman of the Sagamore Institute. "On national exams grading 'basic financial survival skills,' students routinely get more than half of the questions wrong. This ignorance sets youth up for major financial problems down the road, such as credit card indebtedness and vulnerability to predatory lenders."
Indianapolis implementers, including The Oaks Academy, Shepherd Community Center, Wheeler Mission Ministries, and Oasis of Hope Community Development Corporation, were part of the national Ele:Vate demonstration program, which has engaged over 1,100 urban youth from five cities. Program directors cite positive changes in student saving and spending behavior, as well as increased participation in constructive youth activities, as the project's main results. Oasis CDC's LaShanda Rorie comments, "One high-school senior at the end said 'Thank you, I needed this' about the budgeting she learned regarding bank accounts vs. paycheck cashing stores." Other students, too, recognized the program's value. As Blaine Crabtree from The Oaks Academy put it, "America is really in debt. I think this class might help us not be in so much debt and to avoid it."
Indianapolis' successes through this program come at a time when observers are increasingly concerned about America's debt culture, marked by the recent mortgage crisis and the proliferation of payday lending at usurious rates. Sixty-two prominent leaders and scholars recently signed onto a report by the Institute for American Values entitled "For A New Thrift: Confronting The Debt Culture" to highlight the current crisis. Inner-city Indianapolis is feeling the effects of the national disease: it is among the top five urban communities nationwide in foreclosures. "The Ele:Vate Indy's Youth program is helping to create a future generation of financially literate Hoosiers that can help lead their communities into greater economic health," says Jay Height of the Shepherd Community Center.
Dr. Sherman and local program implementers will speak on the initiative at a briefing entitled "Creating Financially Literate Hoosiers: A Successful Urban Youth Initiative," on Wednesday, September 17 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the WFYI Teleplex (Community Room).
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