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Empowering Families: Supporting Financial Literacy and Economic Mobility

At Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning (CHS), we strive to nurture, educate, and empower both children and their families in leading fulfilling and productive lives.  

This takes place within our classrooms as children receive high-quality early childhood education and care but also extends beyond those walls through our family success approach, which supports families in reaching their own goals and building safe, strong, financially stable homes.

Through this approach, CHS provides an opportunity for families not only to relieve the financial stress of childcare, but also to partner with our Family Success Team to advance other important areas of their lives.

With the support of their dedicated Family Success Advocate, families are supported in setting SMART goals using the CHS Bridge to Family Success tool. The tool helps identify a family’s goals and needs in areas including parenting, family, physical/mental health, personal/professional supports, expenses/savings, debts, education/skills, and employment/earning.

“The Bridge to Family Success is a visual tool that allows families to recognize their top opportunities for growth,” said CHS Strategic Partnerships Manager Lindsay Knepp. “It allows CHS Family Success staff to come alongside them and help them create a plan for reaching their goals. It connects them to resources to achieve those goals in their chosen areas.”

For many CHS families, developing financial literacy or driving personal economic mobility is key to accomplish their identified goals. To support this, CHS partners with Members 1st Federal Credit Union, an organization that also aims to empower families in communities where CHS is or will be including Hershey, Harrisburg, Middletown, and soon Lancaster County.

“We are honored to partner with CHS to create a financial literacy program for the families to help them set and achieve their financial goals,” said Sara Firestone, Vice President of Community and Public Relations for Members 1st Federal Credit Union.

How CHS and Members 1st Support Families

Through the collaboration, Members 1st provides CHS families with accessible financial literacy education and assists them in working toward individualized financial goals. The collaboration includes workshops, personalized guidance, and resources tailored to help families build financial stability. CHS Family Success Advocates and Members 1st representatives work alongside families to raise financial confidence to set and reach achievable objectives such as saving money to buy a house or opening a savings account.

Financial Resources and Programs for CHS Families

Members 1st offers a variety of programs designed to meet the unique needs of CHS families, including:

  • Financial Planning Assistance: Helping families create actionable savings and budgeting plans for their and their child’s future, such as buying homes, opening and building savings accounts, purchasing cars, and planning for retirement.
  • Informational Workshops: Covering topics such as credit building, debt management, and long-term financial planning directly on-site at CHS Centers.
  • Weekly E-Tips: Members 1st sends out an electronic weekly financial fact to families to continue skill building outside of formal sessions within the center.

These programs and resources ensure that families have the knowledge and tools to make informed financial decisions, reducing stress and fostering financial independence.

Addressing Financial Challenges in the Community

Many families throughout Central Pennsylvania face financial hurdles such as limited access to banking services, high debt, and difficulty saving for the future. By providing education and accessible financial resources, the partnership with Members 1st Federal Credit Union directly addresses these challenges. Together, we are working to break cycles of financial insecurity and build pathways toward economic mobility for CHS families.

Learn more about the CHS family success approach.

Catherine Hershey Schools

Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning are subsidiaries of Milton Hershey School and will be staffed and operated independently of the Milton Hershey School core model.

Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

© 2025 Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning