Kurt Arehart

In 1997, the Pines of Carolina Girl Scout Council approached Genworth Volunteers, because of their financial and asked them to review and comment upon their "Financial Fitness For Girls" program material. The material was designed to financially educate girls in time to impact their life choices. A key goal was to break the cycle of financial dependence faced by women in more rural areas.

Kurt Arehart performed the review, and found no material covering the critical areas of establishing a strong credit history and the basics of buying a home. He adapted and simplified proprietary Genworth homebuyer education material to introduce a fast paced, engaging workshop for teens that typically takes 75 minutes to deliver.

Originally called "Home of Her Own", the program has been delivered over 100 times to Girl Scout troops around Central North Carolina, reaching well over 1,000 girls.

Recognizing that the message was just as important for boys, Kurt re-named the program "Home Of Your Own", which has been presented over 30 times in area middle and high schools, reaching over 600 teens.

The targeted at-risk youth often have not been exposed to a tradition of home ownership, and the program successfully plants the exciting idea that the dream of home ownership and wealth building is a realistic goal. A strategy for creating a good credit history is shared. Many times parents who have observed the workshop have commented that they wished they had been exposed to these ideas in their youth.

Over the years approximately 30 Genworth Volunteers have been trained to deliver the workshop, with Kurt Arehart remaining the driving force keeping the program vital and timely.