PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A South Florida non-profit organization is giving children in low income areas the tools to create generational wealth.
Nadine Pierre is talking about financial literacy— a topic she believes isn’t discussed enough. "For me it’s a case of emergency for us in our black community for our kids to learn and the adults to learn," she says. "It’s one thing for us as adults to know to know how budget, but it’s a different type of challenge to teach a young child how to do it."
After searching online, Nadine and her daughter Zahriel found Kidz Count.
Samantha Porter, Founder of Kidz Count, says, "Right now personal finance is not a priority, unfortunately in education. So we have Kidz Count as a component to go into the schools and teach about personal finance so we can have the kids better equipped to go into the real world and make smart financial decisions."
Porter founded the non-profit organization alongside her husband. She says COVID-19 caused them to change their model, "We have an online academy it’s great it’s interactive and self paced. We are teaching them about finances, budgeting, about banking and just being smart shoppers."
Porter says the 6 week course also focuses on entrepreneurship. Zahriel says after taking the course she turned her passion for making bow ties into a business, "Kidz Count has actually helped me things in the future, like finance and money. I have a lot of knowledge because of Kidz Count."
Porter says the Kidz Count summer program will be free for families with financial needs. For more information visit https://kidzcountinc.org/.