Vonie Adams

Destinee (13): My name is Destinee Manns. I'm 13 and go to Brooks Magnet Middle School. I want to be a pediatrician or a singer. I cheer for Extreme Athletics. And the best thing we do at the credit union is talk about all different subjects.

Shante (14): My name is Shante Williams. I am a freshman at East High School. I enjoy playing basketball, singing and dancing. The best thing we do at the credit union is color (LOL). But really I enjoy helping Vonie.

Leonae (13): My name is Leonae Franklin. I attend East High School in Wichita, KS. I enjoy shopping, volunteering at the hospital, and participating with the youth board at CUCU. When I grow up I want to be a pharmacist.

Danielle (15): I am a 15 year old sophomore at East High School. I really love and enjoy cheerleading, and dancing. When I grow up I want to be a pediatrician, model, or a background dancer. I enjoy doing and talking about saving money, coloring and drawing art (for CUCU youth newsletter). And I enjoy having Vonie as part of our leaders here.

Communities United Credit Union is one of the primary community-based asset development agencies in Wichita, Kansas. One of the initiatives that we have the most pride in is our new youth program. Our Youth Program teaches youth and teens the value of saving money. The Youth program is still in the infancy stages, so we have created a teen board. The board's goal is to address the unique needs of teens and to increase participation by youth in the community in the savings process.

In order to give our teen board members a good financial foundation, we completed financial literacy lessons from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) High School Financial Literacy Program during our meetings. In addition, the teens work on our quarterly youth newsletter, plan quarterly events, and work on developing programs.

One the programs in development are two savings clubs, one for youth and one for teens. Members of the clubs will receive their own ID card, a savings passbook, and a gift on their birthday. Members will also receive prizes and incentives for every 5th or 10th deposit made into their accounts, and will be eligible to participate in events and programs at the credit union.

One of the events we hope to get started by the end of the year is Youth Savings Day. Youth Savings Day will be one Saturday a month when we open the credit union to youth members only. Our teen board members will serve as "tellers" and account representatives and assist our youth members with opening accounts and carrying out transactions.

Some of our youth board members have expressed an interest in investing and entrepreneurship. We hope to eventually send those youth to an investing and entrepreneurship summer camp and start the Junior Millionaire's Club. This club is founded on the premise that if kids start saving today they can become millionaires in their lifetime. Under the supervision of an adult volunteer, our youth board members will guide interested youth as they learn about stocks & bonds, investing, and entrepreneurship, as well as meet local stock brokers and business people. Eventually the youth will develop their own investment club.

CUCU's teen board has been instrumental in the development of many of our programs. They provide a fresh outlook and perspective that the adults just don't have. W e look forward to an exciting and challenging school year where we encourage more youth from low-income backgrounds that establishing a pattern of savings allows them to shape their own futures.

Editor's Note

One of the areas that CUCU is currently addressing is the needs of people with disabilities in all of their programs, including the youth program. In September, the World Institute on Disability's Access to Assets Project will present a two-day training on disability issues. The training will include information on how to manage disability issues, such as initial intake, evaluation, and providing accommodations. The program will also address how to reach out to this community and better serve many of the people with disabilities that are currently CUCU members. The Access to Assets program recognizes that there are many people with disabilities in all programs across the country. ATA provides training and technical assistance to programs, like Communities United CU, that are striving to be more inclusive and serve people with disabilities in the best manner possible.