For much of her childhood, Kira’s life was marked by instability. She entered foster care twice before eventually aging out of the system. Because of this, she left foster care without the long-term family support many young adults rely on as they transition into independence.
Throughout her childhood, she helped care for her younger siblings while trying to navigate her own uncertain future.
Kira was connected to Partnership through a caseworker assigned to support her while she was in foster care. When she came to Partnership, she had one important goal: to buy a car.
Growing up, transportation was never reliable, and her family often had to walk everywhere they needed to go. In many areas, public transportation is not always accessible, especially in more rural cities. To Kira, owning a car represented independence, stability, and a chance to prevent childhood struggles from repeating.
Despite the challenges she experienced, Kira was determined to create a different future for herself.
Kira learned about Partnership’s Opportunity Passport, a financial education and matched savings program designed to help young people achieve success as they move into adulthood. With various components, including financial education, banking, goal-setting and matched saving, Opportunity Passport was a way for Kira to begin working and saving toward a car.
While balancing work and school, she also participated in financial literacy classes that helped her build budgeting and long-term planning skills.
After saving $3,000 of her own money, Partnership matched her savings, allowing her to purchase a car she still loves more than a year later.
Having reliable transportation has changed daily life for Kira in meaningful ways.
“Having a car has given me the ability to get to work and school independently, build stability for myself and live with a sense of freedom that I did not have growing up,” she said.
What once felt out of reach is now part of the future she is creating for herself.
Today, she is studying networking and computer science and hopes to use her own experiences to help others facing similar struggles
