Full program description
Once a young adult deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) person begins a career and starts spending their earned money, they will very likely wade into a world of debt as they seek to improve their economic standings and expand their possessions and assets. They will discover that as opposed to slowly amassing the money to purchase assets to get them ahead in life, they can use debt to take those steps much more quickly. Thus, with education degrees, cars, and houses, comes student loans, car loans, and mortgages. Debt is alluring in its invitation of consumers to expand their spending power, allowing them to accelerate purchases they might otherwise be unable to do. However, lack of understanding and knowledge of debt and its function can lead to mistakes or assumptions being made - and the increased risk for ballooning debt. This can results in the inability to afford payments in the face of mounting interest - a financial trap that can be quite difficult to get out of.
With the challenges of debt in uncertain times, CSD Learns is committed to providing resources for teachers to teach DHH students and young adults on making educated decisions about their personal finance. CSD Learns has seen a significant increase in the use of and demand for online curriculum that is ready-made for educators. This toolkit is intended to supplement the CSD Learns course, Dealing with Debt, which was developed with partnership and support from Wells Fargo Foundation and Hands on Banking.