FORT WALTON BEACH — Vanette Jones never thought she was bad with money. She was just a single mother of three with a limited income that couldn’t meet her family’s needs.
Now, after completing a nine-week financial stability seminar based on the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace series sponsored by FRESH Start, Jones and eight other clients of the transitional housing organization know how to make their income, however limited, work.
“I don’t save as much as I want to right now, but I know one day it’s going to click,” Jones said. “I’m doing it on my own and it’s working. It’s really working.”
Jones’ journey to financial freedom began a year ago when she took a look around in her home state of North Carolina and decided it was time to go. She hadn’t had a job in six months and hoped moving to Florida with her sister would open up some doors.
“When I came here, it was to find a fresh start,” Jones said. “I needed to take a leap of faith and just step out into the unknown.”
She heard about the Freedom, Respect, Education, Safety, Hope (FRESH) Start program shortly after she arrived, but it didn’t have any openings at the time. Rather than give up, Jones kept moving forward the best she could. She found a job and continued living with her sister.
A few months later she enrolled her children in Beulah Christian Academy in Fort Walton Beach. Someone there suggested FRESH Start to her again.
The program had an opening and Jones hasn’t looked back since.
For FRESH Start volunteers, guiding students like Jones through the seminar is a joy.
“It’s just awesome to watch them,” said volunteer Sandi Mack, who completed the Dave Ramsey program with her husband several years ago. “It’s kind of sad that it’s over.”
The program materials, which were donated to FRESH Start by Woodlawn Baptist Church in Crestview, teaches students how to cut debt, save money and build an emergency fund, but doesn’t touch on the investments phase of Ramsey’s plan.
“We adapted to their lifestyles … as much as we could,” said volunteer Carole Gordon, who added that FRESH Start might host an additional finance class in the future with the other pieces of Ramsey’s plan.
Jones said taking Ramsey’s advice to heart hasn’t been easy, but she’s trying. She’s created cash envelopes for items like groceries and clothing, but the money still runs out sometimes.
What’s changed, she said, is her reaction.
“Now I’m just taking a deep breath and saying, ‘OK Vanette, what do you need to do?’ ” Jones said.
In the near future, Jones and the parents of the eight other families living in FRESH Start’s transitional housing will take more seminars to give them additional skills to build an independent future when their nine months living in the apartments are up.
“We’re all in the program for a reason,” Jones said. “We’re all there to better our lives, to better our children’s lives.”