An Eastern Kentucky non-profit is helping low-income residents with major home repairs while also teaching family financial management.
Jason Benedict, President of Good Neighbors, says families are encouraged to use a jar to collect money daily, funds that would have gone for eating out or a sugary beverage.
Participants are asked to bring those jars to weekly training classes. Says Benedict, “You’ll get somebody who has saved up and saved up and they’re pumped, and then all of a sudden, their tire blows out on their car. Well, they come in and they’re just crestfallen. They say, 'You know, I had it saved up but I had to go ahead to use that to replace the tire on my car.' At that point in time, it’s fun because we say, 'That is exactly what that account’s for'."
The tagline for Good Neighbors is "Be a saver and giver, not a debtor or financial slave." “That’s one of the things we encourage them to do it to take ten percent of what they’ve saved up, put that in another jar to be able to help out their neighbors in need,” explains Benedict.
He anticipates 12 to 15 families in the Paintsville area will participate in the five-week financial training class by year’s end.
WEKU’S Stu Johnson spents two and a half days in the Straffordsville community this past week. Those emergency house repairs, which don’t require the five week financial training, are tied to flooding that took place last July.?
