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Media Advisories

ATTENTION: EDITORS / ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

Contact:

Emily Keebler, Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., 412-281-9986
Mary Lou Boyer, First Commonwealth Bank, 412-781-2000

IT'S GRADUATION TIME SATURDAY FOR SOME AFRICAN REFUGEES:
SOMALI TEENS COMPLETING ADVANCED FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM

$150 DEPOSIT, GRADUATION CAKE BEING HANDED OUT THIS WEEKEND

PITTSBURGH, PA, October 20, 2006 — Tomorrow, a group of at-risk Pittsburgh-area young adults — including four who fled from the war-torn African nation of Somalia — will be more prepared to use credit cards wisely, apply for a loan, save for the future or perhaps even start their own business. And they'll also have $150 more in their savings accounts.

The group is among 20 teens graduating from the new advanced financial literacy program of My Money, My Life, an initiative to assist underserved youth 16 to 19 years of age with budgeting, saving and financial planning in the belief that learning brings earnings.

Last year, My Money, My Life graduated 188 students in Allegheny County who displayed solid gains in their knowledge of basic money matters and greater confidence in making decisions dealing with money, year-end program totals showed. Graduates were invited back to learn even more — and to have more money deposited into the no-fee savings accounts opened for them at the completion of beginner classes.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, October 21, on the fourth floor of the Park Building, 355 Fifth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh, representatives of the program administrator, Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (NHS), and First Commonwealth Bank will wrap up 18 hours of advanced instruction spread over six weeks, covering topics such as goal-setting, buying versus renting, financing a car, using credit cards and obtaining a small-business loan. As the final class concludes, graduates will enjoy cake and soft drinks and make arrangements to have another $150 added to their savings accounts at area financial institutions.

The four Bantu Somalis graduating tomorrow resettled to Pittsburgh as part of a humanitarian effort by the U.S. government earlier this decade. All graduates will be available for media interviews.

News media are invited to the final portion of Saturday's class and graduation ceremony at 355 Fifth Avenue, Downtown. Call Emily Keebler, NHS, at 412-606-2116 (cell) for same-day assistance.