Launch Okanagan has been offering and holding financial classes, two to three a year, for our
men for over two years. Many of our clientele, have learned only the bad aspects of
finances, using every cent they make on drugs or alcohol, abusing credit, with no thought of
ever saving.
Each course entails 6, one and a half hour sessions. The men are instructed on how to
establish healthy financial practices. How do you get a bank account, budgeting, saving,
your relationship with money, consumerism, credit and much more, always talking to guys,
one on one about their individual financial difficulties.
Many have never learned the importance of sound financial decisions and all, come out of
these classes with newfound respect for how these decisions can shape their lives.
At the end of these classes, they are also awarded a certificate of completion which many of
the men have found helpful when they present it to potential landlords.
Out of ten people in Launch Okanagan’s current matched savings program, 2 of those
participants are from our program. Men that have learned the value of savings, for their or
their children’s future, from attending these financial sessions.
When all you have learned is unhealthy practices, you must be taught, that there are
healthy ways of dealing with financial matters.
This is what Launch Okanagan is doing for our men. I must reiterate that this is a course we
could not afford for our men with our limited budget.
Lloyd McClelland
Program Director