The Department of Community Development, Family and Humanitarian Affairs (C.D.F.H.) and by extension the Community Help Desk in collaboration with Social Services is offering free weekly workshops on "Taking total control through budgeting" to the general public starting Tuesday, August 28th 2012.
"I believe it is extremely important that we all become conscious of how we spend our money. I once heard a statement that said:" you can’t buy what you want and beg for what you need. We have to set priorities in our lives and be able to afford them by applying ourselves," said Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever.
The program will be conveniently held where the Community Help Desks are located and starts on Tuesday, August 28th at the St. Maarten Senior Citizen Recreational Foundation in Hope Estate; Thursday, August 30th at the Christian Faith Ministries Church in Dutch Quarter; Friday, August 31st at the Community Help Desk Cole Bay and Monday, September 10th at the St. Peters Community Center, from 7pm to 9 pm and runs for seven weeks. For more information feel free to contact the Community Help Desk at the following telephone numbers: 548-4633 St. Peters; 542-2802 Hope Estate; 544-4340 Cole Bay, and Dutch Quarter 547-4911. This is the first of a series of empowerment programs by the Department of Community Development, Family & Humanitarian Affairs.
Currently, the amount of persons facing financial difficulties is steadily increasing. Often times many people consider managing their personal finances to be overwhelming, difficult and stressful. Regrettably, poor financial decisions may create stress and tension in relationships and may have detrimental effects on personal health and the quality of one’s life. And so in an effort to combat these problems the C.D.F.H.A. seeks to coordinate and continuously "execute informative and social education empowerment programs". The course will be given by S.I.F.M.A.
The participatory workshops aim to help persons develop practical skills and strategies to make wise decisions and get on the road towards financial freedom. Another benefit of the course is the pride and peace of mind participants will receive with good financial planning. Certificates will be awarded to participants at the end of the workshop. The weekly budgeting course consists of seven sessions and features: "An introduction to budgeting" (3 sessions) "Nutrition on a budget" (1 session) "Importance of insurance and savings plans" (1 session) and "Living on a budget" (including review and close/ 2 sessions) Course materials, workbooks and stationary will be provided. The staff of the Community Help Desk, C.D.F.H.A. and Social Services will be on hand to assist at each location.
Upon successful completion of the program participants will be able to: Identify and monitor bad spending habits and take an active interest in budget planning to achieve desired goals. Exercising effective money management is one of the most important accomplishments anyone can make in their lives. Interested persons can register at the Community Help Desk until August 24th 2012 (Limited space available).