S4L program are designed to ensure that low and moderate income, working Houston families and at-risk high school and college students receive excellent training in finances, asset building, college planning and career development.  We offer these programs for adults:

• How to Achieve My Financial Dreams – this is a fun 6-hour interactive workshop that allows participants the time to think and talk about their dreams.  Participants also examine their finances, jobs and resources and develop an Action Plan to make their dreams a reality.  This program is ideal for couples, newlyweds, single parents, new college grads and those who have faced a financial setback.  It is rated excellent by participants and there is no tuition charged for this program.
• 20-20 Power Workshops are a series of 3 related courses, each lasting five weeks, 4 hours a week

• Course 1 - Financial Planning to Become Financially Secure and Independent
• Course 2 – Do You Want a Career of a Job?
• Course 3 – Building Assets and Essential Life Skills

Registration fee is $36 for the series and the tuition is $10/week or $50 / course.  For more information on the results of the course
Skills For living offers at-risk high school students and teens two dynamic programs:

• Game of Real Life is an 80-hour financial, career and college planning curriculum that ends with a 16 reality simulation, experiential game with students “aging” from 19 to 26, in one hour intervals, while working, paying bills  and managing life event.  The course is the first comprehensive planning program approved by the Texas Education Agency.
• Leadership Development is a series of workshops designed to help students who have graduated from the Game acquire valued leadership and critical thinks skills.  These classes are held on Saturdays at the University of Houston.

For more information on the teen and college programs, please see the detailed information on the Game of Real Life menu.
S4L volunteers mentor, instruct and coach participants  For the adult students, many are living below 200% of Federal Poverty. These families are hard workers but with financial education they learn to work smart. Their education and training requires thousands of hours of volunteer time to change the future for families who have been on welfare for generations.
Each family's situation is unique. Most families are single mothers with four children who live on a financial "razor's edge." But with S4L's intense, personal guidance, the families are achieving success, getting better jobs with benefits, completing high school and college and saving money for their future to become financially secure. They are also learning the financial planning concepts to ultimately become financially independent.