Executive Summary

“The number one problem in today’s generation is lack of financial literacy.”   Financial literacy makes a better life realistically attainable! Being financially literate makes an incredibly positive difference in a person’s life. It means you have the ability to save money, avoid debt, enjoy a prosperous retirement, reduce stress and worry, and have the freedom to live the life you wish. For Black youth and young adults financial problems are among the biggest stressors in life and in relationships.     Learning to set goals and plan, and knowing where both the opportunities and risks lie are essential skills that take you on the path to the life you want while arming you with knowledge.Understanding how budgets, spending, saving, borrowing and investing all fit together puts you in charge of your future and lets you be an effective CEO of your life.   Knowing how to create and build a business prepares you to face the challenges of an ever-changing world—or maybe even to change the world. As a Non-Profit organization, (CC)’s purpose is to establish a program that will add value to the school and benefit the student and their community.   CHC is here to make a difference! Financial literacy makes for a better individual and for a better community. The benefits of a financially literate populace are far-reaching, growing exponentially and improving almost every aspect of life.On an individual basis, financial literacy means smarter, more profitable decisions at every stage of life. Financial literacy also means greater financial rewards.   It means people will borrow less, accumulate greater wealth, and pay less in fees related to financial products. They’ll be more likely to invest, less likely to experience difficulty with debt, and more likely to know the terms of their mortgages and other loans.Imagine the dramatic effect it will have as more and more people become financially well-educated and live happier, more lucrative lives.   It all adds up to a healthier, more prosperous economy, more jobs, a happier population, and even less crime. Financial capability has profound implications for the well-being of our community and our nation’s economic health. For us to  have the strongest, most globally competitive economy possible, it’s simple. Our citizens must be able to manage their financial lives well.Our purpose is to promote economic freedom and financial empowerment for everyone.   Your average young black person sees financial literacy and achieving financial freedom as unattainable. They have few real life examples and role models that demonstrate and model successful positive, moral and ethical achievement of financial independence.  There are many underground, and illegal examples all around them, drug dealers, the numbers man, rent parties, tupperware parties and many on screen role models, Jay - Z, Beyonce, Oprah, professional Athletes, but few, too few, everyday people like themselves with the skills, opportunities and success of managing money!    This is sad,  because the subject of money, home ownership and entrepreneurship are, by their very nature, fascinating. Full of drama and humor and rich in rewards. Our individual relationship to money is fundamental to who we are as a person; it ties into our very survival. This is a subject that should never be dull.   We believe that learning about money can be compelling, funny, interesting, exciting, dramatic…all the things you’d expect from the best of programming. It’s information that should be easy to find and access, timely, relevant, easy to digest, and completely trustworthy. It can be created in ways that are interesting and entertaining to a five-year old or an eighty-year old. And it can be so good, students  won’t even realize they’re learning.That’s our goal.   We’re going to present financial education material in a way that’s rarely, if ever, been done before, and we’re going to target it very specifically so everyone will be able to quickly find great information that is relevant to their real life situation.