A Kanata financial consultant recently started a project to help women in shelters become more financially savvy.
Elena Love launched Managing My Money My Way, a financial literacy program in partnership with Harmony House for women living in shelters in Ottawa, in March.“Most of the material is so complicated,” said Love, who has a bachelor in financial consulting and is taking courses to become a certified financial councillor. “What I wanted to do was ask them their stories; what do they want to accomplish?”
Her approach is client-centered and based on the individual’s life situation – not just textbook copy of what should work in a given situation.
“It’s just based on real life,” said Love.
She said the financial plight of women didn’t hit her until she found herself going through the divorce process.
As a stay-at-home-mom with two kids, Love had to find a way to navigate through the divorce with minimum finances.
She said the primary caregiver, which is most often the mother, has to have a bigger house, more food and has to carry the extra day-to-day expenses of the children.
“What I’ve learned I want to share,” she said. “I believe once we get confident in ourselves we can be successful.”
MANAGING MONEY
Love’s program is designed to help females who are living in a women’s shelter to gain financial independence and understanding. The program has been funded for one year but she’s hoping it catches on and that she’s able to continue offering the services.
She covers topics such as how to deal with collection agencies, financial abuse, budgeting and saving, debt management, identity theft and bankruptcy.
More often then not, when a couple gets divorced the majority of the income leaves with the man, she said. Even when the woman works full time, she often makes less than her partner so anything split 50-50 leaves her with a smaller amount.
She added that many accounts are often held jointly or only in the woman’s name – which leaves the financial burden of debt on the female and to deal with the collection agencies.
Love’s program involves a workshop that covers the basic skills needed to become financially independent. She then helps the women to create a snapshot of their budgets.
“It will provide them with a base for their future,” said Love. “I’d like to see women to become confident. No information is too complicated if you take it step-by-step. I want to make it fun – inspiring and fun.”
She said the biggest problem women face is seeing their time as valuable.
“We have to believe in ourselves that our time is valuable and worth money,” said Love. “For us women it’s the most important part; we have to really see value in our own being with or without a partner.”
LIFE STORIES
Love is looking for women with real-life stories of how they overcame financial hardships to succeed and what processes they used in their course of action.
“We learn better from real-life stories – something that really worked,” she said. “The more stories we share the more powerful we become. We women need to stick together.”
She said the stories of what worked and what didn’t can help other women to reach their goals.
“We’re all dealing with the same basic issues,” said Love, who added although money is important it’s not the be all to end all.
Spending quality time with family and friends, looking after ones self and doing things that bring balance to one’s life should also be priorities.
“As important as money is, we have to realize it’s not the only thing that makes us happy.”
For more information about Managing My Money My Way, email Love at elenamlove@yahoo.com.
jessica.cunha@metroland.com
Source http://www.yourottawaregion.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment