In Fargo, fishing means finances
The Salvation Army in Fargo, North Dakota, is breathing life into the old saying: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
In March 2014, the Fargo Salvation Army began offering free community financial literacy courses through a partnership with Thrivent Financial. The courses – taught once per quarter by a Thrivent professional – are an important component to helping people achieve selfsufficiency.
“We teach the basics of money management,” said instructor Dena Bennett, a financial associate with Thrivent since 2001. “We talk about the difference between wants and needs, and about sharing, saving and spending. A lot of it is talking about discipline.”
A student named Richard Robinson attended the class several weeks before graduating from a Fargo barber school. Although the class is geared toward personal finances, Robinson will be using some of the principles he learned for business.
“I wanted to learn how to budget and become financially stable, as I will be starting my own barber shop business,” he said. “The class was extremely helpful.”
Even the co-leader of the Fargo Salvation Army, Major Elaine Medlock, has taken the class and benefited from it.
“I took away setting up a 10-10-80 plan,” she said. “I give 10 percent, save 10 percent, and spend 80 percent.”
Medlock said the program is already ripe for expansion.
“We’re going to build upon it,” she said. “We have lots of people in this community who could benefit, including refugees who need to learn how the dollar works. In addition, two gentlemen have come forward – one is a financial planner, the other worked in the credit industry – who want to help families beyond the class through one-on-one financial mentoring. We don’t yet know where this program is going to go, but we’re excited to ride the wave.”
The idea to start the class began when Bennett bumped into a Salvation Army representative at a networking luncheon.
“We realized we both worked for faith-based companies and thought there might be a partnership there,” Bennett said. “I think the people get a lot out of these classes. It’s not about them absorbing and implementing everything, but if they can implement one thing and become better financially in the long run, that’s the goal.”