10 Things Your Faith Community Can Do To Encourage Homeownership
5. Teach Young People about Financial Responsibility
Consider undertaking educational programs to expose your younger
members to the basic concepts of household finance, so that they
are better prepared to take hold of their financial future.
- Do not forget the children and youth in your community. Homeownership
is a family affair. It is important that they too understand
and have an opportunity to help their parents realize the dream
of homeownership. Teaching the lessons of financial literacy
and responsibility cannot start too soon.
- You can:
- Encourage children and youth to share their dreams of homeownership
- Encourage kids to talk to their parents about homeownership
and ways they can work together as a family to realize the dream.
- Create lessons and activities that teach about personal responsibility
and financial stewardship.
- Set up savings clubs for kids in partnership with a local
bank or other organization.
- Develop "play money" games for kids to help them
understand how to use money and what is involved in running
a household-Reward them with prizes of REAL money for an activity
of their choice.
- Set up a "bank" for church youth in which young
people take on the responsibility for running the operation
and making decisions about risk and responsibility.
- Take a look at these web sites: http://www.jumpstart.org/; http://www.ruralhomes.org/financial_literacy.htm; American
Savings Education Council (www.asec.org/).
Over time, teaching these lessons and providing these experiences
to children early and often can help build a tradition of financial
responsibility, homeownership and community stability not matter
where you live. Look at these examples to see what might work for
you.
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