Operation Shoestring’s Financial Education Courses

At Operation Shoestring, our goal is to empower the communities we serve to live self-determined, healthy, and hopeful lives. This is lived out in our after-school programs, and also in our parent workshops. When parents have the tools they need, their children thrive too. For example, we recently hosted a financial education course in partnership with Trustmark National Bank for fifteen Shoestring parents. 

In these workshops, participants learned more about topics like investing, home ownership, and budgeting. It was incredible how excited Shoestring parents were to be able to talk to experts and financial planners about their long held questions! One Trustmark session leader even ended up staying almost an hour after the workshop concluded with parents to connect them to additional resources.

“Our goal is to provide families with what they need,” says Shoestring Parent Coordinator Star Pool. Shoestring parents said that the opportunity to sign up for a free credit recovery program and to enroll in a savings account with Trustmark were the most meaningful experiences in the workshops. And they loved that their kids were also offered a savings account program too! 

When we empower parents, then families are able to live self-determined lives.

“Parents in our programs said they wanted to find out more about the benefits of checking accounts and savings accounts. They also wanted to know more information about home ownership,” says Pool.

“While many families in our neighborhoods are renters,” Pool adds, “many people were never given the opportunity to learn information about how to own a home.”

By partnering with Trustmark, Operation Shoestring was able to create a space to learn about these often emotionally loaded topics within a calm and familiar environment.

“Even if they aren’t in a space right now to own a home or clear a  debt, it’s important to have someone there that can break down the actual steps to do so. It’s walking and working with them hand in hand and getting through jargon,” said Pool. Through our parent workshops, we’re building community,  creating avenues for parents to feel better equipped and more prepared to deal with problems in their lives, and making a way with families where everyone in our neighborhood can have a fulfilled and hopeful life. 

Find out more at operationshoestring.org/support.