Prepare + Prosper is grateful to our Money Mentors Coordinator, Cieritta Natee, for her outstanding work and dedication in helping our participants on board and supporting them along their Money Mentors journey. She first joined our team as a seasonal intake manager, where she provided exceptional customer service and believed what we stood for in our community. Her openness and genuine personality put our customers at ease and make our program a comfortable experience for our participants.
Although Cieritta describes herself as a laidback and mellow person, she has always liked setting goals, whether small or large and planning and setting routines. However, before she came to Prepare + Prosper, she felt hesitant about discussing money while dealing with her own financial challenges. But after talking to a volunteer about tax services, she decided to apply for the seasonal intake manager role.
When we spoke to Cieritta recently, she expressed how much she enjoyed being part of the Prepare + Prosper family, that she feels heard, and likes relating to our customers. Because she got so much out of her experience as a seasonal intake manager, she continued at Prepare + Prosper in her current role as a Money Mentors Coordinator. As a Coordinator, Cieritta helps get our participants started, answers questions, provides information about our services, hears their stories about what led them to Money Mentors, and shares her own experiences. She also helps keep track of our participants and holds orientation sessions every Monday.
Cieritta’s interest in finance stems from her own personal experiences with money. She had struggled with tracking expenses and wanted to learn how to budget. From our peer sessions, she learned a lot about money management and retirement accounts, including the importance of and how to set up a ROTH IRA.
What she finds valuable in Money Mentors is the compassion participants can find in their mentors. She believes the coaching program is a great resource for the community as it helps people who may feel shy about talking about their money by providing a judgment-free zone with no pressures, and opportunities to hear from others’ experiences and stories during group sessions. She also wants our participants to know that our coaches come from various industries, are here to learn alongside them, and will listen to their stories without telling them what is right or wrong. Instead, our coaches act as accountability partners that help participants see a positive future, both short-term and long-term.
Cieritta lets mentees know that in their first session, they can expect to be asked what they hope to get out of Money Mentors. Through their subsequent sessions, coaches use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based) goals to help participants get to where they’d like to be financially. Cieritta has noticed that as participants continue their sessions, they become more comfortable talking about money and more engaged during peer sessions.
Prepare + Prosper is proud of the difference Cieritta has made in the community. And one of the things she’s proud of in her role is connecting people with Money Mentors and helping them with the initial steps in their financial journey. For any community member who is interested in Money Mentors, she wants them to know that this is a program that will help them excel in their goals, and as she says, “It’s never too late.”
To learn more about Money Mentors and to apply, click here: https://prepareandprosper.org/money-mentors
