Janet

Janet is a student at Mills College who juggles an intense class schedule with 2 part-time jobs as a Cantonese translator and an administrative assistant. She is saving to pay for tuition and supplies. Growing up as the first generation born in the United States in a family of immigrants, Janet struggled to translate for her family members and to help them access services they needed to start a new life in this country. Janet believes that it is critical for people to be aware of the services available to them, and has grown passionate about nonprofit management and marketing community services to those in need. She hopes to use her degree and business skills to open a shelter in the Bay Area, volunteer at local organizations, and assist other nonprofit organizations in marketing their services and products effectively. When she launches her own enterprise, Janet looks forward to financing it through a loan from Opportunity Fund’s lending program. For now, through the matched savings program, she is saving for the first time in her life, seeing the long-term benefits of saving versus the instant gratification of spending. After taking Opportunity Fund’s financial education course, Janet realized she was spending more than she earned, and she has now established a strict personal budget and uses QuickBooks to stick to it. She has already withdrawn almost $3,000 of savings and match funds to pay for tuition and will continue to save to get herself through school. Her advice is: “The resources are out there. If you want to do it, there’s a way.”

UPDATE: As of fall 2009, Janet has reached her goal and earned her full match. She used the remaining $3,000 of savings and match to pay her tuition at school for the fall semester. Congratulations, Janet! She hopes donors will be inspired to help her meet her fundraising goal to offer a new matching account at Opportunity Fund.