The Local launches series of free financial education workshops
A new series of workshops hosted by The Local Community Food Centre is helping Stratford residents take control of their finances—starting with a session on safe money habits.
The Local Community Food Centre wants to ensure everyone keeps their hard-earned money. That’s why the organization is holding some workshops directly related to money, with the first taking place on Thursday, June 19, at 1 p.m.
Jen Vredeveld is the tax clinic and financial literacy program coordinator for the program at The Local, called the Tax Smart Thrive More program, and she says the Safe Money Habits workshop is a one-hour workshop focused on helping people protect themselves financially.
“The workshop will deal with things like signing contracts and possibly different fraud awareness pieces,” Vredeveld said. “Let’s face it: there are a lot of people who have gotten a text, a message on Facebook, or a phone call, and there’s always somebody trying to maneuver somebody to get money.”
The presenter for the workshop is local real estate broker and educator Bettianne Hedges.
“She teaches at a couple of colleges, and she’s a real estate broker, so she knows her stuff,” Vredeveld said. “She knows what it’s like to sign contracts. She’s worked with lots of different people, and she knows what people go through. She will also discuss fraud awareness and how people can do a double check before sending money.”
Vredeveld herself points to her experience doing tax clinics and working with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) where she was provided information about scams related to the CRA.
“They’re very clear. We don’t text you, we don’t email you, we won’t call you and say you need to give us gift cards,” Vredeveld said. “But in the moment you panic and you think that oh my gosh, the CRA is calling me, like this is a big deal. I’m in trouble, and you panic. So you don’t always pause and think about this.”
All of the financial workshops will take place at The Local and are free of charge, which Vredeveld said was important to breaking down barriers.
“I don’t want anybody to feel like they can’t attend anything that we’ve put on,” Vredeveld said. “My intention for the program is to have everything be free for folks, that’s really a big deal with The Local, like we don’t charge anything generally for much like unless it’s a fundraiser. We want this to be as low a barrier as possible. We always have snacks, so we’ll feed you, we’ll provide you with good information and there’ll be time to ask personal questions.”
The next workshop that will be offered is the honest budget.
“It’s a really realistic budget, it’s got everything on there, it’s a really realistic budget,” Vredeveld said. “Where do I spend money, is it on things like cigarettes or partying with friends? People don’t want to put that on a budget because they worry about the accountant in the room, but that’s why they hired me, and I’m a social service worker, not a financial specialist.”
Anyone looking to attend is asked to register beforehand so The Local has a headcount for snacks, but walk-ins are welcome. RSVP for the workshops or submit your own ideas for workshops by calling 519-508-3663, ext. 1006 or emailing [email protected].
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