Northern Santa Barbara County United Way (NSBCUW) is committed to building a stronger community by providing people with opportunities to improve their lives. LITERACY 2.0, our newest initiative, is a unified, collaborative effort to provide a platform for school-aged youth to not only gain in literacy and life skills, but also to begin saving/investing with a goal-setting mindset.
A New Framework to Lift Literacy and Financial Stability
Birth to Age 5
In partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, our United Way is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books to children.
Birth to age 13+
The Ready 4K & Beyond partnership is a highly accessible, evidence-based family engagement solution, using proven curricula, will support parents of children from birth through 8th grade using text messaging.
Age 9 and Beyond
The Sammy Rabbit Money School, coupled with the United Way Today 4 Tomorrow Savings Challenge, is a platform for school-aged youth to begin saving/investing with a goal-setting mindset. It will change the futures of thousands of local families as community partners work to take it to scale.
Sammy Rabbit Component of Literacy 2.O
Sam X Renick (left), the driving force behind Sammy Rabbit, Sammy’s Dream Big Vision and the “It’s a Habit” Company, met with Eddie Taylor, CEO of Northern Santa Barbara County United Way, and Rick London (right), CEO of San Luis Obispo United Way to celebrate the launch of early age financial literacy programs in their respective communities. Sammy Rabbit programs are dedicated to empowering kids dreams and improving children’s financial literacy through the development of great habits and strategic life skills. This is a key component of United Way’s Literacy 2.O initiative.
The Goals
- Establish Sammy Rabbit Money School curriculum in local schools and directly with families and community-based organizations. This curriculum will teach young children the importance of setting goals and achieving dreams through saving for the future.
- Students and families who complete the six-week curriculum will be invited to open a custodial savings account in the child’s name. Funds in the account will be restricted until the child turns eighteen.
- The United Way will deposit forty-four dollars ($44) in the account as seed money.
- The family and the child will agree to make regular savings deposits based on lessons learned during the course.
“We are pleased to collaborate with author Sam X Renick and Sammy Rabbit to make financial education resources and programs more available and accessible to children and families in the area, a key part of our Literacy 2.O work. NSBC United Way believes the literacy 2.0 effort will change the lives of thousands of individuals and families as we go to scale,” adds Taylor.
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