🍁 Happy October - Thank you for reading! 🍁

Hello MTB Families,

We hope you are having a great start to October! 🍂 Please keep reading to find out about key announcements and upcoming events for this month.

Financial Literacy Sessions 💰

Your student is beginning to receive their monthly stipend check, and now is a great time to start talking about banking basics and credit. To support this, we are offering workshops designed to help students (and families!) feel confident about managing money.

Banking Basics 101

When: Tuesday, October 13 at 7 pm on Zoom

Speaker: Carolina Rozewski

Your student can RSVP through their Google Calendar invite.

Don't miss your chance to learn more about strategies for building good credit, how to access and read a credit report, managing spending and credit responsibly and more! Families are welcome to attend!

What Students Are Up To

Question: What have the juniors been working on?

Answer: Professional Communication

The juniors have been discussing professional communication. They should also have talked with you about their work in MTB!

Meet Some of the MTB Support Team!

Dhymond ♥︎

Hello, my name is Dhymond, and I am currently a first-year Master of Social Work student at Rutgers University. My passion for social justice and advocacy inspired me to pursue a career in social work, with a particular focus on addressing the marginalization and systemic oppression experienced by Black and Brown communities. Through my education and field experiences, I hope to continue developing the skills necessary to empower individuals, strengthen communities, and promote equitable opportunities for all.

I am excited to join MTB because of its commitment to educational access, mentorship, and supporting students and families in achieving their goals. As someone who values community engagement and youth development, I look forward to working with students and their families, learning from them, and contributing to a program that is designed to help young people thrive academically and personally.

Furthermore, my experiences and values closely align with MTB’s mission of creating pathways to success through peer mentorship, family engagement, and self-care. I am especially eager to build meaningful relationships with students, support their growth, and deepen my understanding of community-based social work practice in the education sector.

Outside of social work, I enjoy going on long walks, traveling, trying new foods, and spending time with family and friends. A fun fact about me is that I have traveled to 10 countries so far!

Ask a Question

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Questions about FAFSA

Question: What is FAFSA?

Answer: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form is the free application for federal student aid.

You need to complete the FAFSA form each year to be eligible for federal grants (that's free money - up to $7,395 - that does not ever need to be paid back), work-study funds (for jobs on campus), and/or loans. Completing the FAFSA form is easy and helps pay for college or career/trade school.

Also, colleges and the state of New Jersey use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for additional state and school aid.

Students who are US citizens (or eligible noncitizens with an A#) are eligible, regardless of their parents' citizenship.

Question: Is it safe to apply for financial aid if we are a mixed-status family?

Answer: It's complicated.

The Higher Education Act prohibits the Department of Education from using FAFSA data for any purpose other than determining eligibility for federal aid. FAFSA data is also protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FAFSA data has not yet been used for immigration enforcement. However, we cannot guarantee that this data will not be used for immigration enforcement by future administrators.

Families may want to consider whether their data is already in the system because they pay taxes, for example, or because they have already completed the FAFSA for other children. In this case, completing the current FAFSA likely does not put the family at any additional risk.

If you want to have a confidential conversation about this issue with one of our social work interns, please let us know:

Schedule a Conversation

Coming Soon - Mark Your Calendar! 🗓️

Once a month, we gather on Zoom for a Full Group Meeting.

Students are expected to attend our second Full Group Meeting on one of the following dates:

Saturday, October 10 | 10-11am
Sunday, October 11 | 4-5pm

Attendance is mandatory. Leaders will stay for 15 minutes after the meeting.

Thank you for being here!

Thank you so much for being part of the MTB community. Your support is an essential part in our community. See you in November! 🍂

-The MTB Team

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