Money management is often a foreign concept for the women who find themselves in need of the services offered by Mary Ellen’s Hearth at Nellie Burge.
One of the River Region United Way’s 40+ affiliate agencies, Mary Ellen’s Hearth (MEH) offers transitional housing to homeless mothers and their children, as well as tools to help them get back on their feet.
Most women who come to MEH are in debt, unable to afford housing and transportation and have poor credit. They have no clue what their next step should be, and their financial burdens have closed a lot of doors to them.
“This doesn’t go away,” said LaTeasa Hicks-Pauley, executive director of Mary Ellen’s Hearth. “We work to help these ladies learn how to manage money, and be able to make better choices.”
MEH partners with several area banks, including BB&T Bank, Regions and Guardian Credit Union, to provide much-needed money management classes to their residents.
The money management classes focus on several goals. They work with the women to pay off debts and repair credit, with a particular eye to things that will impact their ability to secure housing. They’re taught how to save money, and how to improve earning.
MEH staff works with the residents to help them create a monthly budget, and meet weekly with them to ensure it’s being followed. Hicks-Pauley said 80% of the residents are now actively saving money in a savings account – something most of them would never have considered prior to living at MEH.
For Alexis, this lesson has really hit home.
“When I got a paycheck, if I had some leftover, I would spend it,” she said.
The 21-year-old mother of one was visiting family in Montgomery from Atlanta when she became unexpectedly ill. She was hospitalized, and with no savings, was unable to afford the rent on her place in Atlanta. She was evicted, and as she had no transportation to return to her Atlanta job, she was soon unemployed as well.
Alexis and her daughter came to Mary Ellen’s Hearth with almost no possessions, no money and no prospects. Alexis was in debt, and had no photo ID or Social Security card. She said her anxiety levels were high coming into the program.
“At first, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Alexis said. “I was scared. If I couldn’t take care of myself, how could I take care of my daughter?”
Alexis took to heart the lessons offered by the staff at MEH. Within 30 days, she’d gotten a job. Within 3 months, she was able to afford a car. Now she’s saving 30% of each paycheck and planning on getting her own place to live. She hopes to one day go to college, something she never considered before Mary Ellen’s Hearth.
“Mary Ellen’s Hearth provides a hand up as opposed to a hand out,” said Guy Davis, market president at BB&T Bank and MEH board chair. “By learning life skills, parenting skills, and becoming financially literate, these ladies have an opportunity to stand on their own when they leave us. That is so much more important than a temporary fix.”
United Way donors have a huge impact, not just on the residents of Mary Ellen’s Hearth, but all those helped by our 40+ affiliate agencies in our key impact areas of education, income and health.
“As chairman of the board of Mary Ellen’s Hearth, I see first-hand how the funding provided by the United Way helps us meet this critical need,” said Davis. “Thank you to the community for your support of the River Region United Way. Your gift is not only being used wisely … but it is making a difference!”
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