To help celebrate Earth Day this year consider taking actions and steps that are good for Mother Earth and also good for your wallet.

1.    Enroll in electronic banking – This saves you trips to the bank which also helps reduce the greenhouse admissions that are put out daily by automobiles. Plus online banking is so much more convenient. You will not be sorry about making this easy change.

2.    Enroll in paperless statements – We all know paper is made from trees. So when you have paper statements being mailed to you monthly, this is causing trees to be cut down. Trees help fight climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Paperless statements are available for three years, so there’s no need to print and file them.

3.    Shop your local farmers market - Food at the farmers market is usually grown locally, meaning it doesn’t have to travel as far to get to you. Charleston and the surrounding areas have a ton local farms that supply produce to our local communities! Depending on the area you live in there is usually one farmers market per week and sometimes two. Shopping as much as you can from your local farmers market reduces the environmental impact of the food, which usually costs the same or less than you would pay at the grocery store. A list of farmers market in Charleston and the surrounding areas can be found at the link below.

https://charleston.momcollective.com/in-around-charleston/guide-to-farmers-markets-around-charleston/

4.    Avoid disposables – This is a more obvious one but you will definitely notice the amount of money you can save by drinking from a reusable water bottle and bringing your food in a reusable Tupperware rather than Ziploc bags.

5.    Be more vigilant about how you run your home - Setting your thermostat a few degrees warmer in the summer or cooler in the winter can reduce energy use significantly. Also, wash your clothes in cold water and only run the dishwasher when completely full.

6.    Make energy-efficient updates to your home - Installing a new furnace, replacing doors and windows or adding insulation may reduce the amount of energy your home uses and cut your energy costs. Using your home equity is a cost-efficient, affordable way to pay for these projects. 

        Origin offers financial education and coaching to help you become more green when it comes to your budget and finances and we can help you improve your credit. We offer the following services within our Financial Education & Coaching division.

·        Financial Coaching

·        Credit Improvement

·        Debt Management

·        Bankruptcy Counseling

·        Financial Education Workshops

·        Student Loan Counseling

To learn more about these services or the Financial Education & Coaching program at Origin, please click here. 

By Lindsey Jenkins - Marketing & Outreach Manager At Origin SC

Jh

O

fh

From Victim to Survivor to Thriver - One Client's Journey to a Brighter Future

Years and years of violence in the home has a lasting effect on the mind and body, not to mention other family members within the home. Origin recently served a client that left her violent home roughly four months ago. Her home was built from an abusive marriage that spanned more than twenty-five years. For multiple decades, she battled sociocultural expectations, which limited her ability to walk the path to a brighter future. Origin stepped in and helped. When our counselors in the Family Violence Intervention Program first met with her, she presented debilitating symptoms of trauma, depression, anxiety, and panic. Again, we ask ourselves how any individual can have a good quality of life while dealing with these debilitating factors and their basic needs (safety) being non-existent? Over time, our counselors worked with her to develop new coping skills using visualization exercises and grounding techniques to control her panic symptoms. Through psychoeducation skills, she learned about the cycle of violence, power and control, and the many ways that the impact of abuse manifests in our lives. That impact can be physical, emotional, psychological, social, or economic.  Our team remembers asking her at her first counseling appointment, "What words would you use to describe yourself"? Her response was silence. For the past twenty-five years, her violence within her home had completely disassociated her own sense of self and identity. While walking alongside our team just this past November, she was able to step outside of her abusive home and never look back. She secured her own apartment, gained new employment, and gained enough insight and confidence in a brighter future that she realized she had aspirations to be a social worker. We are so proud to report she was recently accepted into Trident Technical College's Human Services Program and will have her first day in the classroom this May! 

To learn more about Origin's Family Violence Intervention Program, click here

If you would like to make a donation to this program click here.