Meet Sarah: A Financial Education Advocate for Persons with Disabilities

Hello, my name is Sarah Smith. I am a Member Service Representative at Service 1st Federal Credit Union; I am also the 2023 CrossState Credit Union Ambassador.

I am a mother to two special needs boys, and they are the reason I am the current Credit Union Ambassador.  I began working for Service 1st three years ago when I started getting to know my members and their families. I learned that most of these families were struggling the same way my family was.

They were caring for their special needs children but were unaware of how to help their children prepare for their financial future. This started my journey to provide financial information to families like mine. 

I tried to find things that would be helpful for my children, but there wasn’t one place I could go to review all of the resources. When I was approached by my manager to do the Ambassador program, I was apprehensive at first but after a few hours, I decided I wanted to jump in with both feet. I had to choose a project idea, but it was a no-brainer. Finding a way to serve my children’s community has always been a passion of mine.

I chose to create my flyer “A Resource for Persons with Disabilities.” I presented my idea to the leadership team at Service 1st and was able to bring some, if not all, of them to tears with my passion for this project.

I have truly put my whole heart and soul into making this project a success. Being able to present trainings to the branches, and work with multiple departments to create the flier and then present it at the convention where I was chosen as the winner, has been nothing short of amazing.

The platforms and support I have now to spread awareness and information is overwhelming. My work will never really end with this project. I am currently putting together a panel seminar with my credit union and other resources that will be happening in April.

I am so thankful to CrossState and Service 1st for believing in me and my mission to help this forgotten community.