I’m Taleavia. You may know me as a poet, a Bucks fan or as one of the 7,253 teens that Make A Difference empowered last year. What you might not realize is that your support is still part of my life every day.

I started school this Fall at Howard University in Washington, D.C. I wanted to write to you to share how being smarter with money is making my life better and is also helping my family 800 miles away back home on the northwest side of Milwaukee.

First, to everyone in Milwaukee … OMG, I miss everything! I miss my city and my family. I miss my monthly Money Coach sessions. However, one of the great things is that even after you completed the program, it stays with you.

After learning how bank accounts work, I opened my first savings account. I taught my mom how important it was and she opened hers as well. Now she’s teaching my brothers and sister to do the same.

Everything I learned from Money Coach – budgeting, saving, spending carefully – I’m still doing now that I’m out on my own.

The week I got to D.C., I opened a new local savings account. I’m tracking what I spend and I buy food in bulk for my dorm room. I’m getting a campus job and I even hope to earn extra money from performing my poetry. I feel so much better prepared than many of my fellow freshman.

Thanks to the support of people like you, I am able to save, spend and live independently. I now know that in order to be financially happy, you have to “make money yours.”

I’m grateful for all the people who helped me get to this point in my life. I’m 18 and I’m living my dreams!
I hope you will support Make A Difference so that thousands of other teens just like me can make smart decisions and feel confident and free when it comes to money.

Sincerely,

Taleavia
Money Coach alum 2015-16 & Howard University, Class of 2020