UHI Intern Paves Path for Youth Financial Literacy Program

Through Teach for America, Lukas Alfen has worked as a geometry and science teacher at Woodstock Middle School in Millington, Tenn., for the past year. In January, Lukas reached out to UHI Executive Director Tim Bolding about financial literacy for youth programming. The meeting resulted in Tim Bolding speaking to Lukas' class on financial literacy for youth. Following the presentation, both Lukas and Tim were surprised by the lack of knowledge these students had on money management.

"After discussing, Lukas and I came to the conclusion that the best way to create and nurture the homeowners of tomorrow is to develop the money management and financial literacy skills in children today," said Tim. "Knowing that Lukas would be a great asset to our team, I offered him a summer internship to exclusively focus on developing a UHI youth financial literacy program. We were thrilled when he accepted."

For the past two months, Lukas has been developing the foundation of this program, titled United Housing for Youth (UHY), through research and networking with community partners. He has strengthened and developed relationships between UHI and several organizations that are enthusiastic about the initiative.

"The dialogue surrounding financial education is gaining momentum, and I hope this program is a step in the right direction," said Lukas. "More awareness will lead to more action and a brighter future for the next generation."

UHY consists of different financial literacy lessons that are meant to be easily facilitated by a teacher or professional visiting a classroom. Additionally, UHY will give facilitators access to relevant and quality extension activities, including programs developed by EverFi, which is the leading education technology company focused on teaching, assessing, badging and certifying students in critical skills.

"My hope is that UHY helps bring more attention to the lack of and need for financial literacy skills in our community's children," said Lukas. "Often times, financial issues that adults face could be prevented had they learned the proper skills as children. I'm confident this program can help correct some of these trends."

Interested in ways you can support this new initiative? Email us through our website using subject line UHY at http://www.uhinc.org/home-19/home-25, or call Amy Schaftlein at (901) 728-6937.