- Chloe, BlackFem
Over the last several months I have fallen asleep and woken to the voices of the amazing adults, teens, and young kids who have benefited from the work of BlackFem.
Before we sought out Kiva to help fund our youth program, Time Is Money, we were successful in meeting up with a number of high school students worried about their eventual encounter with their largest investment in their future: paying for college with student loans. We received feedback that played to the tune of gratitude, relief, and wanting to learn more.
Jazmyn sighed and said, “I now feel comfortable with going to college knowing that I won’t be worried about loans and financial decisions”, while Olivia very boldly exclaimed: "Finally there is an organization that serves minorities like me when I feel like society tries to keep me in the dark.” At that moment I knew it was not only critical that we expand our efforts, but it was the start of our economic, political, and social legacy to reconfigure a financial world that systematically assigns disprivilege to our target demographic.
The entire Kiva process was validation. Sweet victory. Proof that not only does our mission matter, but those who benefit from it matter too. Our private funding period, having gone so fast brought me to tears. I needed even more tissues when we were completely funded after some short days. Kiva became our catalyst, and we now can say we helped more than 120 girls of color in the month of July alone! Help being a term to describe the individualized and wealth-centered financial education imparted to these amazing young girls.
We have 10 year olds that can examine a credit report and substantiate a reason as to why your interest rate is above the prime rate. We have 5 year olds who can explain to you the appeal of compound interest and its relationship to helping them pay for college. We have a founder who is humbled and motivated every day to continue changing the futures of these women and defying the statistics that are meant to define our lifestyles.
Kiva, thank you. You have made believers out of many, and a stronger fighter out of me.
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