Bringing financial wellness to Goshen College students

Two Pennsylvania-based Everence® Federal Credit Union employees visited Goshen College to present a financial wellness course with students in March.

Kevin Gil, Financial Wellness Manager at the EFCU Philadelphia office, and Christina Zayas, Accounting Manager at the Lancaster office, made the trek out to Indiana to share their knowledge of budgeting, credit, debt management and the importance of saving for retirement early.

Marlene Kroeker, Stewardship Consultant serving Michiana and intern supervisor, and Aphaphanh Nussbaum, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and intern specialist, invited Kevin and Christina to host a workshop for Goshen College students in conjunction with the Peer Financial Coach Internship program Everence has developed at GC.

As young adults, both Christina and Kevin taught themselves financial wellness by attending seminars and reading books on budgeting and debt repayment. Now, as finance professionals, they’re able to pair their lived experience with their field experience to help educate others.

“We’re not giving financial advice,” Kevin said of the workshops. “It’s more so educating individuals on what’s out there and what’s good financial practice.”

Kevin said the workshop, which took place March 26, was a success with the students. Kevin and Christina presented on budgeting, credit scores, how to pay off debt and more.

“It was really well received by a group of young people whose eyes widened with some of the things we shared,” he added. “It was also encouraging to see some of the creativity that already existed in them when solving some budget issues in one of our group activities.”

Fernando Daza and Morgan Baker, two Goshen College Peer Coaches, opened the workshop. The two students also coordinated the event.

“We wouldn’t have been able to have such a successful event without the help of the peer coaches, who planned the actual event and, most importantly, encouraged students and some staff to attend,” Christina said.

Goshen College Peer Financial Coach Internship program

The Peer Financial Coach Internship program was created by Aphaphanh with two goals in mind: 1.) create a pipeline for future financial consultants; and 2.) connect with college students.

At the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, Everence hired two Goshen College students to provide confidential financial wellness coaching to their peers. Fernando, a sophomore, and Morgan, a senior, coached their peers on basic budgeting skills, the difference between needs and wants, as well as fixed expenses versus variable expenses and savings.

The program was designed with the Everence distinctions in mind. The materials used in training were developed by Beryl Jantzi, Director of Stewardship Management. Beryl also led some of the coach training sessions.

Halfway through the 2023-2024 academic year, Everence also hired three Peer Coaches Interns at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas.

The Goshen College coaches met with two to four students weekly. Of the students coached, only one had been saving for the future before they met with the coaches. Now, many of those students are planning for their future, with some even connecting with Everence Financial Consultants to talk about retirement savings.

Overall, the program has been a success.

“The biggest win for us was finding out that through the financial coaches, college students were beginning to think about the future. Students who had not saved before now had savings goals,” Marlene said.