Students with a financial mentor don’t just improve their lives – they invest those skills back into the needs and futures of their loved ones.

Current and past students from our Money Coach program gathered recently to share the impact of financial education with a V.I.P. group of supporters at Milwaukee’s East Side Library. One theme that reverberated across the stories and anecdotes from the seven young people at the event was the value they found in bringing home what they learned from their volunteer Money Coaches.

Setirah, who participates in the program through PEARLS for Teen Girls, said she’s able to save from her two part-time jobs to “put some money aside to help my mom with the bills.” Sabinne, a high school senior and participant at Carmen H.S. of Science and Technology South, said she’s not just budgeting to go to culinary school, carrying on the tradition of her grandmother’s cooking. Sabinne wants save and spend smarter now so that she can “always be there” for her family.

Then there’s Daisy, 19, who’s setting up a college fund – for her newborn baby sister. Daisy (bottom picture, at right) is a Milwaukee college freshman who participated in Money Coach last year. Since graduation, Daisy’s mother also welcomed a new baby sister into the world. No longer “the baby in the family,” Daisy said Money Coach and life on her own has helped her realize the importance of saving early for everyone in her life so she’s setting up a college fund for her new baby sister.

“Growing up, my parents were never able to open a college savings account for my brother or I. Being in college now … I’ve realized, we need to start setting up my little sister for a successful life,” Daisy said.

“Right now, I have started saving money for her from every paycheck I get. I don’t want her to struggle the same way that my brother and I did. Thanks to this program, it opened my eyes that it’s not just about having a happy life for you, but also helping my sister have a successful life as well.”

After the Q&A with Money Coach students and alum, guests from the Milwaukee business world networked with the teens and offered their own financial advice and strategies. To watch the impact Money Coach has on students, check out this video. Want to learn more about the one-of-a-kind financial mentoring program? Visit here.