At READI Chicago, we see opening access to economic opportunity as key to increasing community safety and combatting decades of disinvestment in the neighborhoods we serve. Since the initiative launched in 2017, READI has invested more than $20 million into our community-based partner organizations to help communities build capacity from within, and has paid more than $9.5 million directly to participants through wages and stipends.
This Financial Literacy Month, we wanted to recognize the critical role of financial literacy in building a foundation for a safer, more stable life, and the critical ways our staff work with participants to build a financial foundation through professional development and individual coaching.
“We’re trying to help these men build a foundation by giving them cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—getting them to think differently—and then by developing the skills to go into the workforce and be confident and responsible about it,” said Taj McCord, a job coach with Centers for New Horizons for READI Chicago Englewood. “There’s no foundation if you don’t address the financial part—that ends up being the reason a lot of guys end up in the streets. With the skills we teach in CBT, they end up weighing their options and deciding it’s more important for them to find balance in their lives and work toward financial independence.”
Taj said he and his fellow coaches cover a variety of different levels of financial literacy in order to meet participants where they are and help them work toward self-identified goals. Some groups start at the beginning, with how to open a checking account, the difference between a debit and credit card, and how to create a budget. For participants more familiar with financial literacy, staff discuss things like investments, entrepreneurship, or business models.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and specifically the resulting stimulus checks, presented a unique opportunity for many participants, Taj said, as participants began approaching him with questions about business opportunities or property investments. One participant, after consulting Taj and putting together a plan, purchased a number of vending machines and is now working to build relationships with businesses who might need one.
“The mindset, just seeing them start to think differently, is the most important part for me,” Taj said. “Guys begin asking a lot more questions about financial literacy on their own, and what they should be doing with their money, and that tells me they’re absorbing and using the things we talk about in CBT and these sessions.”
