Carleda Johnson
Independent Living Skills Coordinator
Financial Literacy for People with Disabilities
Register for a class today!
Access Living’s money management classes are geared toward people with disabilities who want to improve their credit, learn to budget, and save for the future. Students who complete the workshop series receive certificates of completion and small stipends!
Financial literacy schedule April – June 2026
- Thursday, April 23: Financial Freedom: What does it mean?
- Thursday, April 30: Emotional and Cultural Influences on Financial Decisions
- Thursday, May 7: Benefits of a Bank Account Guest Speaker -Bank on it
- Thursday, May 14: Establishing and Using Credit Wisely – Borrowing basics
- Thursday May 21: Why You Need to Budget Your Income and Expenses
- Thursday, May 28: Benefits of Saving and Setting Financial Goals
- Thursday, June 4: Why Your Credit Report is so important
- Thursday, June 11: Introduction to Credit Cards
- Thursday, June 18: Guest Speaker
- Thursday, June 25: Review and Final Test
Financial literacy schedule July – September 2026
- Thursday, July 23: Financial Freedom: What does it mean?
- Thursday, July 30: Emotional and Cultural Influences on Financial Decisions
- Thursday, August 6: Benefits of a Bank Account Guest Speaker
- Thursday, August 13: Establishing and Using Credit Wisely
- Thursday, August 20: Why You Need to Budget Your Income and Expenses
- Thursday, August 27: Benefits of Saving and Setting Financial Goals
- Thursday, September 3: Why Your Credit Report is so important
- Thursday, September 10: Introduction to Credit Cards
- Thursday, September 17: Guest Speaker
- Thursday, September 24: Review and Final Test
What you’ll learn:
Participants learn to take control over their personal finances and establish practices for long-term money management such as:
- How to create a budget
- Understanding what credit is, how it works, and your personal credit score
- How to repair, raise, and/or maintain a healthy credit score
- How to set and attain financial goals
- Access Living works with community partners that offer easy-to-access checking accounts for any participants with minimal or no bank account.
All participants receive a GIFT CARD upon workshop completion!
Get on the list for the next workshop series
About the workshops:
- Participants must be City of Chicago residents
- Each Money Management Workshop is 10 weeks long.
- Students meet in person every week for 10 weeks
- *NOTE: Participants cannot miss more than two classes
- Workshop sessions take place on Thursdays from 1 – 3PM
Workshop Sessions Week by Week
| Week One | Financial Freedom: What Does it Mean? |
| Week Two | Making Financial Decisions: How Emotional and Cultural Influences Shape How We Spend |
| Week Three | Bank Accounts: Our Options and Their Benefits |
| Week Four | Credit: Using it Wisely |
| Week Five | Budgets: Why and How to Track Our Income and Expenses |
| Week Six | Financial Goals: The Benefits to Saving Money and Setting Financial Goals |
| Week Seven | Credit Reports: What Are They? Why are They Important? |
| Week Eight | Credit Cards: An Introduction |
| Week Nine | Guest Speaker: Fraud Prevention |
| Week Ten | Work Supports and ABLE: Final Test |
Questions about workshop sessions? Contact one of the Financial Literacy instructors!
To attend, please contact one of the class leaders listed below, or fill out the Class Contact form.