To help Austin youth prepare for a successful financial future, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area hosted a “Reality Store” in October at the Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy with the help of local experts from Charles Schwab.
The Reality Store was an interactive, hands-on experience for the young women, who discovered the realities of adult life—understanding careers and salaries, managing income and expenses, and planning savings and investments. It’s part of a year-long program called Money Matters: Make it Count, a curriculum for building financial responsibility among Boys & Girls Club members.
“This program is designed to give the young girls a reality check,” says Michele Glaze, Vice President of Resource Development for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Austin Area. “They’re given a profession and a salary, and then they go station to station and have to pay bills. Are you renting or buying a home? You go pay utilities. Do you have pets? Children? It opens up their eyes to what living really costs.”
Experts from Charles Schwab provided financial information to girls through a Reality Store hosted by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area. Photo courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area.
