Summer is a great time of year to spend quality time with your family. It’s also a great opportunity to talk about spending, saving, and budgeting your money with your family!
Planning summer activities and vacations? Make it a family conversation. Are your kids taking on summer jobs? Talk to them about what they plan to do with their earnings.
LIFE Mississauga focuses on building independent living skills for adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Clients take courses that help them move toward greater confidence and self-reliance. Courses include: budgeting, technology & media, healthy relationships, community safety, and navigating public transit. Clients at LIFE Mississauga also participate in social and recreational outings: bowling, hiking, organized sports, shopping and more.
ABC’s workshops have proven to be a real asset for LIFE Mississauga. Fatima Safi, a program instructor, has noted some promising changes among learners who have completed the Money Matters program. “I’ve witnessed the impact TD has left on our participants by sponsoring and delivering Money Matters,” she said. “After completing a workshop with TD volunteers, a participant has opened a savings account, a number have started tracking their purchases using spending logs, and many have started saying 'I won’t buy lunch today because I want to save. I brought lunch from home instead!’”
We’re so glad to see the impact that our programs have had over the last few years. We look forward to working with March of Dimes Canada: LIFE Mississauga for many more years to come!
HSBC Family Literacy First Programs are a Hit this Summer
On June 6th Agincourt Community Services Association (ACSA) hosted an HSBC Family Literacy First event at Lynwood Heights Junior Public School in Scarborough, Ontario. The enthusiastic participants kept the HSBC volunteers on their toes as families were led through stories and activities encompassing everything from giant pandas to astronaut dreams.
"ACSA has had the pleasure of working in partnership with ABC Life Literacy Canada and HSBC in Scarborough communities," said ACSA Executive Director Lee Soda, "One of the biggest gifts we can give one another is that of sharing time together, and our partnership with ABC and the wonderful volunteers from HSBC allows us to offer this gift to our communities."
We can't wait until our next joint event taking place next month at Dorset Park Hub in Scarborough.
Interested in getting in on the fun? You can download 50 stories and activities at FamilyLiteracyFirst.ca, available in English, French, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, and Arabic. Register to get free access to all our resources.
New LEARN Campaign and Resources Coming This Fall Last month we announced that the LookUnderLearn.ca (VoirApprendre.ca for French users) database and website had been updated. Our next step is to create a comprehensive awareness campaign that will include promotional materials for community organizations to promote their programs, as well as print, web and social media PSAs. The campaign is slated to begin this fall so look out for more information in the next newsletter. Together we can spread the word that the LEARN database is a resource that helps learners find programs in their area that will help them improve their skills.
Sign Up For Free Webinar About ABC Programs for Newcomers and New Canadians
Join Allison, Programs Coordinator for Western & Northern Canada, for a newcomers-focused info webinar to learn more about ABC's free adult literacy programs, Money Matters for Newcomers and New Canadians and UP Skills for Work and how you can bring them to your community.
Register now for the webinar which kicks off at 12PM PDT on Tuesday August 14th.
ABC East Coast Report
At ABC Life Literacy Canada, we love connecting with the communities we serve. In June, Erica, Programs Coordinator for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, travelled to Nova Scotia to attend the National Supported Employment Conference where it became clear that the conversation on employment inclusion is getting louder and louder.
The wide range of sectors represented including education, health, and government, lent to thoughtful group discussions on how we can collaborate to bring financial, workplace, and other kinds of literacy to learners from all walks of life.
Interested in hosting an ABC presentation at your organization? Please contact your regional programs coordinator.
