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Breadwinners Academy asks $20,000 in CDBG funds to expand school financial literacy pipeline
Summary
Breadwinners Academy asked for $20,000 from Euclid CDBG funds to expand a financial‑literacy pipeline: middle‑school curriculum, high‑school classes that award half credits, and a paid six‑week summer program. The nonprofit cited partnerships with banks and local universities and provided results from prior years.
Jason Lockett, founder and executive director of Breadwinners Academy, presented a proposal to expand in‑school financial literacy and a summer program for Euclid students. The organization seeks $20,000 from the CDBG public‑service allocation toward personnel and program costs; its total program budget for the described activities is $35,500 with other confirmed support of about $11,000 and a $4,500 organizational contribution.
Lockett said Breadwinners brings project‑based financial education into middle and high schools and awards Department of Education and Workforce‑approved credit in high school. He described a middle‑school curriculum called "It's Lit: The Financial Literacy Playbook" and a high‑school curriculum "Dollars and Cents," plus a six‑week "Books to Bread" summer program held at John Carroll University where students can earn stipends. He told the committee the programs aim to increase financial knowledge, math confidence and post‑secondary planning.
"Our goal is simple, is to create a pipeline of students where we instruct them in the middle school that prepares them for our high school curriculum," Lockett said. He cited concrete outcomes from the organization's first years: since 2022 Breadwinners reported approximately $167,000 in scholarships or compensation to students, 133 investment accounts opened, 433 bank accounts opened and 14 vehicle purchases made by program participants.
Lockett described local financial‑industry partners (Bank of America, Erie Bank, KeyBank, First Federal Lakewood, Northwest Bank and others) that provide starter funds and account products for students and said his team is coordinating with Euclid High School principal Russell to run classes with a teacher of record present to address teachers'‑union considerations.
Committee members raised union and staffing questions; Lockett said the program will operate with a school teacher of record in the classroom to comply with district and bargaining requirements and that documentation can be provided. He said Breadwinners can operate on existing unrestricted funds if Euclid funding is not awarded but asked for CDBG support to scale up offerings and add personnel to reach all eligible Euclid students.
