Already in Love with Job:

As I have often talked and written about, I have recently started a new job in Cedar Falls, Iowa called the Job Foundation.(Job is pronounced like Jobe or Job from the Bible, the name as opposed to a job that you work everyday.)  This job is already awesome, and it has already taken a piece of my heart.  I always knew that I was going to be teaching kids in low-income or poverty families lessons about financial literacy and how to do a better job with their money.  I didn’t know all the ins and outs of this program.  I am so happy to say that we have a program that I truly believe will set up a lot of kids for success. 

We are the only conditional cash transfer organization for youth in the United States.  The students have the opportunity to make money in our program as well as save money till shortly after their graduation for achievement in school and completion of our financial literacy lessons. This is giving the students a chance to work for their money and their earnings and it is giving them the financial ability to break the cycle of poverty.  They can achieve so much money for attendance at school as well as attendance at the program.  They also can achieve money for good grades.

Through teaching the financial literacy lessons (Now my particular role) we cover a lot of topics to ensure that our students can achieve in the world outside of the Job Foundation as well as outside their respective schools upon graduation.  In elementary school, some of the topics that are covered are how to balance a checkbook, budgeting and spending plans, and conflict resolution.  Middle school is the big heart of the financial literacy lessons and their particular program covers leadership skills, critical thinking skills, renting and owning a home, volunteerism, credit cards and loans, taxes, saving, internet safety, impact of addiction/healthy behavior, and banking/checkbooks.  We meet with middle schoolers every week, so they can cover this broad range of financial literacy lessons.  Then in high school, there is a focus on college/career preparation, work and school culture, and credit and debt.  

For the seniors, we also provide them with a lot of opportunities to get money for their future.  They have a certain checklist they need to achieve within six months of their graduation, but all of these items are for their betterment and for their future achievements.  Some of the items on this checklist are voter registration, getting a driver’s license, having at least 3,400 dollars in savings, volunteering for at least 20 hours, completing the FAFSA, and completing all of their financial literacy lessons and an end of the year test.  With all that completed, they are able to access those funds that they have worked so hard and so long to save up.  

I have heard of many success stories that have come from The Job Foundation.  Again, our goal is to make all the students in this program as well as their families to be financially stable and empowered.  One example is of a kid who was in our program during the middle school years before he moved away.  (He was still able to access the money that he had raised during those years he was in the program).  He took his creativity and created a new business that sells handmade greeting cards.  There is also most recently a young girl who is going to be graduating from ISU completely debt free.  This is absolutely incredible.  I do truly believe that these are items that would not be possible without the help and the support of The Job Foundation. 

I also love that they include charitable giving and volunteering into their program.  Teaching kids that giving to charities and giving back to the community is a very powerful thing.  In their annual reports it showed that through 2019-2020, the kids gave about 913 dollars and in 2020-2021 year, there was over a 1,000 dollars that were given to organizations like St. Jude Research Hospital, Cedar Bend Humane society, Boys and Girls Club, local churches, Salvation Army, Red Cross, and local food banks.  

Last but not least, there are a few events that we get to do with the kids.  There is an emphasis on connection and building relationships with the kids.  We get to have celebrations for students reaching milestones in their education that will take place at local restaurants.  There is also a bowling night, recreational play night, and even a Turkey Day where we give Thanksgiving meals to the families of The Job Foundation.  There is also a mentor program, so kids have the chance to be paired with a local community member, so they can know they are cared for.  

 One thing I learned through my various other jobs of working at nonprofits and at a school is in order to make an impact, one needs to care about the people being served and empowering community members.  This is through caring about the whole person, not just a part of the person.  This is through thinking about their emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, and even their financial self.  While the Job Foundation focuses a lot of their energy on the financial, there is an emphasis that is put on the other factors in a person’s life as well.  I can tell the Job Foundations really does this through caring and engaging with their community, but they also show this through their commitment to the families.  It is a family organization where they do care about the whole family members.  They invite family members to some of the events and make sure they have their parental support and backing 100% before working with their child.  

I am already so happy with this organization.  I know this foundation and the people who have worked for it have made a positive impact on so many young people’s and adult’s lives.  I am glad that we are helping to build up a community of financially literate citizens.
This all in all reminds me of a calling from the Bible in Romans 12:13 which says, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” If you as my dear readers would like to know more, I am including the website to this organization: https://www.thejobfoundation.org/