Charlotte woman chooses saving
Thinking About the Future
When Charlotte Saves celebrates its official launch in September, it will do so with a core of Savers already enrolled through its pilot project. One of those is Gina Esquivel. Ms. Esquivel got involved in the program when her employer, Catholic Social Services, became a sponsoring organization for the campaign and named her as a site coordinator. But the decision to enroll as a Saver was her own.
In working on the project, “I realized I have to have some guidance, some coaching in what my financial decisions are,” she explained. “As a young professional, I need to start thinking abut where I want to be in the future.” Ms. Esquivel set herself two goals – getting rid of her credit cards and starting to set aside a modest amount of savings each month. The first step toward accomplishing these goals was realizing she needed to change her spending habits. “I am not a big saver, and I am a big spender. I had to do a very strong confrontation with myself. ‘Okay, Gina, you have to be mater and start saving instead of spending.”
While she was aware of other resources in the community she could have sought out, it made a difference that the campaign came to her, she said. “Sometimes you need to be reached out to.” With just two months in the program, Ms. Esquivel obviously cannot yet point to major financial gains since becoming a Saver. But she does see a real change of attitude. “I just became more careful with my money,” she said. The motivational workshops – and a site coordinator she has seen several – have played a role. “The motivational workshop made me aware of the possibility of saving. Before, I always felt like I would never make enough money to save.”
Hearing other savers discuss their problems and progress has also helped. “Either you don’t want to be them, or you want to be them. It’s positive and negative reinforcement at the same time.” Ms. Esquivel expects her experience as a Saver to make her a better site coordinator, because it has given her a real belief in the program. When you feel energy inside, you can project that to other people.” Instead of just talking about something that is abstract or foreign, “I can tell them how it makes me feel” knowing that “I make can make the decision about where I want to be financially.”
“I can make the decision about where I want to be financially.” --Gina Esquivel