Insightful conversations about financial literacy, wealth-building, and back-to-school preparation filled the lobby of the Chase Bank Community Center in the Summerhill neighborhood on Saturday morning. Chase Bank and The Emerging 100 of Atlanta partnered for a back-to-school event where more than 400 backpacks filled with school supplies were handed out to children in the community.
Adults and kids alike also had the opportunity to gain insight on how to build credit, properly invest their funds, and even pick up tips on managing finances for small businesses, as JPMorgan Chase banking professionals Mathilda Lambert, Sydnee Scruggs, and Xama Gonzalez hosted workshops.
“Workshops like this prepare the younger generation so when they get older, they know how to effectively build credit and invest,” said Aaliyah Davis, who brought her nephew to the back-to-school event.
The impact of this event is deeper than just distributing school supplies. It’s an initiative to combat financial disenfranchisement that has long affected the community.
The history of Summerhill goes back more than a century, but in recent years, the neighborhood has experienced dramatic changes in cost of living, financial access and available living amenities.
“There was nothing here at first — this community was once a banking desert,” said Mathilda Lambert, vice president of community and business development at JPMorgan Chase. The bank was one of the first major financial institutions to establish a presence in the area.
“It’s something unique, because while there are a lot of back-to-school events, when you combine school supplies with financial literacy, you’re able to bless people on both ends,” said Daniel Farr, president of The Emerging 100 of Atlanta.
“When you see the wealth gap widening in this country — and in our community — it’s incredibly important that we are discussing finance,” Farr added.
The percentage of Black and Hispanic households that are credit invisible is 3% higher than that of white households, according to recent data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Lambert, who was born and raised in Atlanta, said events like this are meant to start the conversation about finances early on and to reassure the community that the Summerhill branch is a place where they are welcome to connect and ask questions anytime.
Saturday’s event is just one of many financial literacy and community outreach initiatives JPMorgan Chase plans to host across metro Atlanta this year, according to Lambert.
