An organization devoted to arming Foothills youth with financial sense has received funding from Okotoks FCSS.
Junior Achievement Southern Alberta was one of 12 organizations providing preventative and educational programming in the region to be chosen for Family and Community Support Services dollars in 2021.
The financially-focused program is receiving $4,000 toward the cost of materials for delivering its sessions to some 1,500 Foothills-region students from Grade 4 to 12 at no cost to schools or families.
Davina Comstock, regional co-ordinator for the Foothills Region of Junior Achievement, said the programs align with current Alberta curriculum and are tailored for specific age groups with different themes and objectives.
“In Grade 4 we’re teaching students about money management, how their financial choices impact their lives, and giving them the information they need to know to be fiscally responsible and to understand what money really looks like,” said Comstock. “It doesn’t just come off a tree or that plastic card your parents buy groceries with.”
At older grade levels, programming can take on work-readiness skills such as learning how to network and build a brand, as well as how to pursue a career and map out goals.
Learning stock portfolio management and general money management is also at the heart of high school programs, she said.
During COVID, the need to plan ahead and be fiscally aware has been highlighted as people found themselves out of work or suddenly shifting career focus, said Comstock.
“COVID has definitely made us aware of how important financial literacy is, and to teach students about entrepreneurship because we’ve seen so many businesses had to diversify on the fly,” she said.
It’s all about teaching students there is plenty of opportunity and to inspire them with the tools and knowledge they need to achieve their goals while being fiscally responsible.
Brandon Bailey, chair of the Okotoks FCSS committee, said a total of $235,600 was dispersed among the 12 organizations that applied for funding, and all requests were able to be fully supported for 2021 rather than funding portions of need.
“That was great, it was a pleasure to be able to fully-fund those agencies who are doing great work, especially in a pandemic where these services are accessed more than ever and really needed,” said Bailey.
Debbie Posey, community wellness manager for the Town of Okotoks, said there is a stringent set of criteria in place for determining which agencies and programs are eligible for FCSS funding.
Programs must be preventative in nature, she said.
“They outcomes they state have to meet preventative outcome criteria,” said Posey. “Having said that, it is still a fairly broad base, because prevention covers a pretty wide spectrum.”
Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson said he was pleased to see the number of organizations that benefitted from full FCSS funding for 2021.
“It takes a whole village to raise a child, I think it takes an entire town to make sure nobody falls through the cracks, and FCSS is one of those groups we have within and programs we have within the Town of Okotoks to try to include everybody in the overall success and happiness in moving forward in our community,” he said.
For 2021, the following organizations were funded by Okotoks FCSS: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area ($51,500); Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, Connections program ($25,000) and Family School Liaison program ($10,000); Foothills Country Hospice Society volunteer services program ($13,425); Foothills Regional Victim Services volunteer program ($5,000); Foothills School Division Family School Liaison counsellor program ($35,000); Inclusion Foothills Association family support program ($15,000); Junior Achievement Southern Alberta ($4,000); Okotoks and District Seniors’ Club ($8,000); Okotoks Meals on Wheels Society ($1,000); Rowan House Society Branches program ($18,000); and Wild Rose Community Connections, Dad’s Central program ($32,039).
