Young North Texans create financial literacy program to help fellow students

FORT WORTH, Texas - A financial literacy program created by students, for students is picking up major speed.

The young men behind "Change 4 Kids" program recently picked up a scholarship to get their program off the ground.

A colorful vision board reflects their business plan.

"Oh! You can't pay all your bills with cash. We need to teach them what bills they can pay with cash or what bills they have to go online for," one of the program's creators said.

Brainstorming to keep creativity flowing.

"It kind of came to me, like what does my community need? Most people are not financially literate, or they don't know what to do out of high school," senior Darius Ford said.

"I've been in Stop Six my whole life, seeing people live from paycheck to paycheck, not knowing about credit scoring. And seeing that I can have the opportunity to help them learn," 2019 graduate Zarian Thompson added.

"What I was thinking, is we start the students off with penny stocks because those are easy to work with and they're not costly," junior Kameron Sanders said.

Three determined students from Young Men's Leadership Academy in Fort Worth.

They were also recent winners of a national youth entrepreneur's competition, and during the Detroit conference, they were awarded a $12,000 grant.

And just like that, "Change 4 Kids" financial literacy is up and running.

For CEO Darius Ford, it's personal. 

"I feel like what I went through, and my background can help other students," Ford said.

He and his family were homeless for a time. His passion, in part, stems from knowing what it's like to sleep in their car.

"Because I went through that, it keeps me on my toes," Ford said. "I know my reason for doing what I'm doing. I've never complained about doing this. I like doing it because I have a reason behind it."

Their first paying client will likely be Fort Worth ISD.

"We're going to start off at local high schools, talk to counselors, see who needs the program the most," Thompson said.

"I just hope that everything we do follows through and we're changing kids' lives, and instilling knowledge in them. That's what I hope," Sanders added.