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College Bound 2026
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If Your Bank Account Could Talk: JIT’s Financial Fitness 102 Kick-Off Sparks Honest Conversations About Money
Coach Christine Jorgensen with participan Cali Hampton
If your bank account could talk to you, what would it say?
That’s the icebreaker that Financial Fitness Coordinator Rebecca posed to attendees of last week’s in-person Financial Fitness 102 Kick-off.
From the approximately 25 coaches and participants in attendance, the answers ranged from “You’re doing alright” to “Girrrl, FEED ME!”
JIT’s Financial Fitness service invites participants to connect with volunteer coaches in the JIT community to learn financial literacy, including concepts related to opening a first bank account, saving for a big purchase, repairing credit, budgeting and even retirement – we meet participants wherever they’re at on their journey.
Monday’s one-hour workshop was especially valuable for the face-to-face connection it offered. The chance to get to know each other in person helps build trust as participants move on to tackling sensitive money issues that often require a certain level of confident vulnerability.
Hands-on financial learning
Financial lessons into action
One-on-one coaching
Throughout the workshop, participants and coaches alike were asked to reflect on their values and past experiences and to ask how those topics influenced their relationship with money.
They also paired up to complete a Financial Wellness Wheel to rate areas like debt management and savings on a 1–10 scale, an exercise meant to help them assess their current financial health.
The session wrapped with a focus on creating SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound—setting the tone for eight weeks of growth, accountability, and community.
“The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Financial Literacy is budgeting, but the wellness wheel exercise gave us a bigger picture of what it actually is. It’s so many things – savings, debt, retirement.”
