Reading money

Youth worker teaches young folk how
to keep their cash in their pockets

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Brian Smith

Age: 41

Occupation: Visible Minorities project supervisor for Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi Côte-des-Neiges

Bio: Upon graduating from Vanier College in the late ’80s, this conscientious, civic-minded Pierrefonds stud scored himself some serious higher learnin’ via a football scholarship from Boston University, they in need of a killer defensive end and he in want of a killer education. Unable to go pro after a nasty knee injury left our hero on the sidelines, Brian returned to Montreal schooled in sociology and economics looking “to do pretty well any little thing that would help the community.” So, after a brief stint as a project coordinator at the Jamaica Centre of Montreal, he landed his current gig at Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi Côte-des-Neiges, “basically working on projects targetted towards the area’s visible minorities, young single mothers and minority youth. I do a lot of outreach too. Most people don’t gravitate naturally to community organizations and services, so I’m often going out to where the youth are, encouraging them to come here and use our services.”

Are the kids he seeks generally found in neighbourhood crack houses? “Uh, no, we go to the Maison des Jeunes here in CDN, the community centres, the gyms, the schools. I tend to work with people aged 16–25, so we also go to adult centres. In summer we go to the parks. We want this place to feel like a home, not some employment centre where you feel like a number. We really don’t want to be seen as an extension of the government. Even though there’s a lot of unemployment among youth around here, we still have to go out there, getting the word out to them, also making sure everyone knows our services are all free of charge.”

One service/program Brian has launched and wants the world to know about: Financial literacy workshops for disadvantaged youth and single mothers. “Managing money isn’t something generally taught to anyone in society at large, let alone minority youth—how to save, how to budget, how to understand all the financial mumbo jumbo out there, the fine print. You should see the statistics showing how much debt youths are carrying and the effect it has on them not just financially, but emotionally and physically too. We see our financial literacy workshops as a preventative measure so the kids don’t acquire this debt in the first place, steering them towards organizations where they can get the information they need. There’s a plethora of resources online where you can have financial questions answered for you.” For info about attending one of Brian’s workshops, phone (514) 342-5678.

A few online resources he highly recommends: The Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy (theccfl.ca), Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (fcac-acfc.gc.ca), It’s Your Money (tesaffaires.com).

Has any kid he’s given advice to ever come back a few years later to wave a big thanks from the window of his Beamer? “Sure, they get their Beamer, but then, a couple months later, when they realize they can’t afford it, I wonder what happens to it.”

Last book read: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck.

Musical preferences: Bob Marley, Sanchez.

Words of wisdom: “Hard work and effort never killed anybody. You are responsible for your own destiny.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net