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"Your
Resource
of Choice"
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Volunteer
as a
Financial Advisor
A
dozen volunteers ready to teach financial skills
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Steuben
County is taking its recent United Way of the Southern
Tier funding to the bank! The two-year grant was awarded
to help Cooperative Extension provide Family Resource
Management and Home Energy Efficiency education throughout
Steuben County. “People are living on tomorrow’s
dollars today,” says Financial Management Educator
Nancy Reigelsperger. “The need is out there. Financial
management difficulties are not limited to low income
people. People across the board are having issues.”
Nancy is addressing these ever-increasing
issues by multiplying her efforts across the region.
In June she trained 12 new Volunteer Financial Counselors
to help with the caseload of requests. They learned
goal setting, family communication, basic budgeting,
managing credit and debt, savings and general financial
decision-making. Attorney Peter Baker, Hammondsport,
also spoke to the group about the changes in bankruptcy
laws that went into effect last fall and the importance
of having wills and other valuable documents.
“We are very proud of these volunteers,”
Nancy said. “What a wonderful group of folks who
are eager to learn and share their skills.” They
will work confidentially with individuals and families
to offer trusted advice on how to develop goals and
get control of their budgets.
Attorney Christine Valkenburgh from Bath,
took the workshop because she sees how difficult it
is for members of the community to be gainfully employed.
“Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”
she said. Nancy gave a lot of good ideas on how to motivate
people and how to focus. I was heartened to hear some
of the stories. People want to do the right thing –
they just need to know how.”
Retired from Corning Inc, Carlton Joseph
of Painted Post, said he took the training because he
enjoyed tutoring for the New Jersey land grant university
– Rutgers University - in the 1970’s. “The
presentation was excellent – very energetic. I’m
looking forward to being of help. I’m retired
and in good financial solvency. I can help be in tune
with the black families of the area.”
Armed with such enthusiastic volunteers
across the county, Cooperative Extension is now ready
to accept requests from Steuben residents who want help
with their budgeting needs. Assistance can be provided
individually or offered to groups and is provided free
of charge. Those interested in joining the Volunteer
Financial Counselor ranks are required to attend training
before handling calls. Contact Cooperative Extension
at 607-664-2300 to get on the waiting list for the fall
training session or for more information on talking
to a counselor in your area.
Comments
from our volunteers |
Julie
Cummings, Hammondsport
Becoming a Volunteer Financial Counselor, through
Cornell Cooperative Extension, was an excellent
opportunity for me to share financial ideas with
others, and at the same time receive additional
training and ongoing support to meet the needs
of perspective clients. I consider myself very
fortunate to have learned early in my life the
importance of setting goals, how to plan for things
and ways to control spending. These things are
important to me because I want to be responsible
and avoid the many cunning debt traps we see today.
Over the years I have attended a variety of workshops
and seminars dealing with personal goal setting
and money management issues. When I attended these
events I always liked to share some of my own
situations and the things that I had found to
be of benefit to me.
Though I have a full-time job, which limits the
amount of time I have to volunteer, I find it
to be very rewarding. I not only get to help others
by sharing the things that I have learned, but
often the people I meet have unique ideas of their
own that help me continue to learn new ways to
help others.
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Rapheal Simon, Corning
80 years old. Aware of Extension services since
he was married and his wife was involved in some
of the programs. He was working as tax aide in
the Office of the Aging program and colleagues
told him about the financial counselor volunteer
job here.
“A lot of people don’t know how to
manage their money. To help a person recognize
that they need help appealed to me. The people
at Extension are great. It’s a pleasure
to have them as a resource to do this type of
work. We, as your volunteers, are your arms and
legs throughout the county.”
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Seems like Alice Stillman,
of Hornell, gets more benefits out of volunteering
for Cornell Cooperative Extension than her volunteers!
About two years ago she answered an advertisement
for a financial counselor at CCE-Steuben. “When
I retire, I want to have something to keep me busy,
and this is ideal,” she says.
When Alice is assigned a case, she sits down with
them first to go over their budget. “I’m
helping individuals who just need to talk it out
with someone. Some just need to re-work their budget.”
She has counseled one young lady who had a college
loan and credit cards. Alice said the girl was so
proud when she paid off four credit cards.
Alice said another case found a woman dealing with
a husband who was ill and children who could not
understand. “She just needed to tell somebody
about what it was like. She needed some guidance,”
Alice said.
“I myself have learned a lot from this,”
she said. “It’s made a difference in
my life, because I appreciate what I’ve got
a lot more.”
When Alice first considered the volunteer job, she
thought it might involve a lot of math, but it didn’t.
She has attended many of the training classes and
speakers coordinated by CCE-Steuben Financial Educator
Nancy Reigelsperger. She particularly enjoyed one
lawyer who discussed bankruptcy and was surprised
to find bankruptcy is both a costly practice as
well as difficult. She now shares this information
with her clients.
Alice has found that budget problems are not limited
to those earning low incomes. “It’s
the middle class people who are having real difficult
times,” she said.
“I’ve had 95 percent progress with everyone
I’ve met with,’ she said. “Sometimes
it’s just the simple things. I thoroughly
enjoy the cases I have done.” She was pleased
that her young case asked if she could continue
to call her after they were finished. “I think
she’s adopted me,” she laughs, “but
she has so much potential...I hope she continues
with it.”
“I do some other volunteer work, but this
is my favorite,” Alice says. She has shared
her enthusiasm with her friends and has another
woman who is now interested in becoming a financial
counselor herself. “I wish I had more time
in the day, but this allows me to work around my
schedule.” Alice says.
Thank you Alice, for the lives you have touched
through your volunteer work. |
For
more information contact us here.
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