WHAT WE DO

Community Impact

Financial literacy education becomes most powerful when it moves beyond definitions and into daily decision-making. In the last year, across Prince George’s County, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia, 2 Small Coins has provided free financial literacy education designed to help young people connect abstract financial concepts to the choices they face every week—how to handle a first paycheck, whether to save or spend, and how small habits compound into long-term financial capability.

Mentoring is central to this approach. A young person can memorize the difference between a checking account and a savings account, but understanding those concepts comes from applying that knowledge: deciding how to divide a paycheck, setting aside money for a future goal, or recognizing the difference between a need and a want in the middle of an actual purchasing decision. Financial literacy mentoring gives students a low-pressure space to practice these judgments before the stakes are high.

Consider the type of breakthrough mentoring can create: a student who initially treats saving as simply “whatever money is left over” at the end of the month can, through guided budgeting practice, begin to see saving as a line item that belongs in the plan from the start—not an afterthought. Similarly, many teenagers encounter payroll deductions for the first time without understanding why their paycheck is smaller than expected; walking through a sample pay stub with a mentor can turn confusion into a working understanding of taxes, net versus gross pay, and how to budget around it. A third common turning point involves credit: students often equate access to credit with available money, and mentoring that introduces responsible credit use—paired with the long-term consequences of unnecessary debt—can shift how a student thinks about borrowing well before they open their first credit account. These examples illustrate the type of practical learning that financial literacy mentoring can made possible.

Community infrastructure matters to this work. Public libraries throughout Prince George’s County, Maryland—including branches such as Hyattsville, Oxon Hill, Largo-Kettering, Upper Marlboro, and Surratts-Clinton—have served as accessible community spaces where youth education and learning have taken place. In Alexandria, Virginia, library locations such as the Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library and the Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library likewise represent the kind of established, community-centered spaces where youth programming and mentoring are well suited to happen, and where our mentoring in the city of Alexandria has taken place.

Financial confidence grows through repetition, real-world application, and supportive guidance—not through a single lesson. By focusing on budgeting, saving, responsible credit use, and the everyday decisions that shape a young person’s financial future, 2 Small Coins works to make financial literacy education practical, approachable, and free to the students and communities of Prince George’s County and Alexandria alike.

We are hoping to make our mentoring program available nationwide. Our free online courses are available to young people, families, and individuals from underserved communities.