Learning about societal issues like poverty and homelessness is an essential part of a sound financial education. This is the belief of the Next Gen Outreach group at CitizensFirst Credit Union, which put on a poverty simulation at a local high school last month. Next Gen Outreach is a franchise offered by Chatter Yak! LLC, a marketing and advertising cooperative for credit unions. Part financial education and part community service, the group is made of young adults ages 15 to 25 working to ensure a successful financial future for themselves and their communities.

About 80 students in the Communities classes at Oshkosh North High School were exposed to some of the demands of living in poverty. The one-hour simulation took place on December 16 and was the presentation of a program developed and coordinated by Erin Olson of CAP Services Inc. Participating students were divided into “households.” Under a time constraint, these mock families had to get children to school, go to work or visit a social worker, along with many other tasks. If students lost their jobs or failed to pay their mortgages, they might be forced to live in the homeless shelter, where some students began the simulation by an unlucky draw.

“We want financial education to be practical and impactful,” said Bryce Roth, President and Co-founder of Chatter Yak! LLC. “We’re very proud about the learning lessons our Next Gen program continues to provide for credit unions like CitizensFirst and Dane County Credit Union.”

CitizensFirst introduced the Next Gen program in 2013 to attract younger members to the credit union, educate young adults on financial issues and create opportunities for community service. The young adults in the program took it upon themselves to plan and organize the event at the high school.

Next Gen Outreach is one of many Chatter Yak! products available to credit unions. To facilitate the program, Chatter Yak! provides custom curricula, website services, and an advisory board—all designed to create effective financial education for our youth. Geared toward community engagement, Next Gen Outreach promotes the spirit of cooperatives while attracting younger members to credit unions. Dane County Credit Union in Madison, WI is the most recent credit union to launch their customized Next Gen program.