MCC Launches Financial Literacy Programs in Alberta

Mennonite Central Committee
Friday, 3 March 2000

CALGARY, Alta.-- Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta's Employment Development program has launched three initiatives to increase the financial literacy of low income people in Calgary.

Fair Gains helps Calgarians living below the poverty line build security through savings and assets. Started in July 1999, the pilot program is encouraging 20 participants, with an average yearly income of $15,000, to save from $15 to $45 per month for one year.

The participants also attend regular workshops, peer group meetings and one-on-one consultation sessions. After one year, their savings will be matched at a ratio of three dollars for every one dollar saved. Those savings must then be used to increase their financial security by purchasing a house, starting a business, furthering education towards a career and so on.

"Most of the people in the group are saving at pretty much the max. And the amount that people are saving is going up each month," says Rodd Myers, Community Economic Development Facilitator for Employment Development.

A second program, started in December, helps low wage-earners pay for apartment-rental security deposits.

"They're earning enough money each month to pay their rent but not enough to save for a security deposit," says Myers. "That's seen as one of the major problems for homelessness in Calgary."

So far, 14 loans, at an average of $457, have been issued. The loans, generally repayable in two years or less, are interest-free if the participants take financial-literacy training.

MCC Employment Development's newest initiative is one dealing with women and financial literacy. It will be aimed primarily towards women living in shelters. "Women who have been abused are a specific focus as they have likely never controlled their own finances or know how to take control of this aspect of their lives," says Myers.

Expected to start soon, the 10 hour package of financial literacy training will include approximately 110 women in the first year of programming.

"Financial literacy initiatives at MCC Employment Development are born out of a need in the community to understand how money works,"explains Myers. "Low income earners want to take control of their finances and their lives."

The three programs all receive funding from non-MCC sources, including the United Way, Calgary Homless Foundation, and the Royal Bank.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org