Guernsey Memorial Library has partnered with Visions Federal Credit Union to provide a free Financial Wellness Workshop Series to the community. Workshops will occur once a month at 6 p.m. in the Guernsey Library Meeting Room, and cover an array of topics ranging from basics of banking to identity theft to planning for retirement. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich has taken advantage of the Financial Wellness Workshop Series provided by Visions Federal Credit Union. Workshops will be held in the Library Meeting Room each month at 6 p.m., now through February.

"We’re pretty excited to have it coming. I mean, everybody needs this. I don’t care how much you know, you can always know more," said Guernsey Memorial Library Director Connie Dalrymple. "[I] encourage folks to come because of course it’s very important to take care of, and we’re excited to be able to bring it to the community and hopefully get everybody in good financial shape."

Workshops will begin on June 30, and will occur once a month until the final workshop on February 23, 2023. Topics will range from banking basics, identity theft, budgeting, becoming a homeowner, and more.

"Every single month we’re going to have a different theme. So since the first one is on June 30, we’re going to kick it off with just our regular, general guide to financial wellness," said Visions Financial Wellness Officer Samantha Lethbridge, who will be presenting the workshops. "It's basically like an overview of everything, like what it means to be financially well. That means being knowledgeable in banking, having your budget together, having good credit, what all of these different aspects mean and why they are important to an individual so that they can be financially independent."

"Next month we’ll just do basics of banks, just learning what is a checking account, savings account, CDs, investments, mortgage, all of those different departments that people know about in banking, but also they don’t know about in banking," Lethbridge explained. "Then crash course in credit, so why credit’s important. Identity theft, that’s going to be very big considering the holidays are going to be coming up. Budgeting, and then holiday spending in November, very important."

The workshops are free to attend, and no prior registration is necessary. Although the workshops are presented in a series, Lethbridge said attending all of them is not necessary.

"You don’t have to attend all of them. They’re all basically just, you come on in and we very much hand hold. So we’re not going to start with, if you go to the January one, we’re not going to be talking about bitcoin and the stock market and using all of that political jargon and stuff. So it’s all going to be very kind of elementary no matter who comes in at what time," she explained.

Lethbridge also stressed that the workshops will be more like a group conversation rather than a quiet presentation, as she wants to ensure attendees are engaged in the material and learn things that are relevant to them.

"All of these are going to be more of conversation pieces. Of course I’ll have a nice fancy powerpoint and we’ll go through everything, but everybody kind of gets bored after watching a powerpoint for so long. So I like to have an open dialogue, open conversation, get to know the audience," she said.

She added that while each workshop has a set theme, such as holiday spending or retirement planning, if the group wants to focus on different topics that better suit their needs, she can adjust her seminar to educate attendees on what they'd like to know.

"Sometimes it’ll be like four people there, or if there’s 40 people there, and if I’m talking about budgeting and they don’t know how to balance a checkbook, well then the conversation may shift like a complete 180. So it’s all going to depend on the audience and what their needs are, because I’m not going to just stand up there and just speak from a slide," said Lethbridge. "I have live people in front of me. I’m going to ask them what they want, what their needs are, and what do they want to learn about?

For those who may miss or be unable to attend a workshop, Lethbridge said all presentations will be available online as pre-recorded webinars, and she can provide links to individual webinars for those who would like them. She said she also provides her personal phone number and email so community members can contact her should any questions arise.

The Financial Wellness Workshop Series is provided entirely by Visions Federal Credit Union through their Financial Wellness Department, which aims to provide outreach and education on financial literacy in every aspect of the community.

"I’m not selling anything. I’m not doing a pitch where it’s like, hey come to Visions we can open you a checking account. We teach people about checking accounts, and we teach them about credit cards, and we teach them the difference between APR, APY, all of that fun stuff," said Lethbridge. "My job is more education-wise, so that way people can make their own educated opinion or decisions on, okay I have this information, now I’m going to go forward and utilize it. Whether that would be at Visions, NBT, you know, as long as they are making a very well educated decision then my job is done."

Visions’ Financial Wellness Workshop programs are available to libraries in the area, as well as schools, community centers, senior centers, and more. Lethbridge said workshops can be provided for all ages, from children and teens to adults and seniors, as well as all group sizes, in person or virtually. She added that she will "make our program work for you."

"I am out in the community helping out after school programs, community centers, libraries, senior centers," said Lethbridge. "We also have like fun little games and story times, and we’ll go to an elementary school and host a bingo game, and read a fun story that has to do with money ... [High schools] have their hands full, so we just like to be an added resource and be like, hey, you don’t have to add this into your curriculum, we’ll come and teach this for you."

"If we can raise that financial literacy in the community everybody wins, because then everybody will know how to become financially independent, and that's the best thing you can teach your children," she added.

More information on Visions Federal Credit Union and their financial wellness resources can be found at visionsfcu.org/financialwellness and visionsfcu.org/walletwellness.

More information on Guernsey Memorial Library and their available programs can be found on their website at guernseymemoriallibrary.org or on the Guernsey Memorial Library Facebook page.