Jennie Huffman
“It’s good for me as a woman to know how to manage my own financial affairs. I don’t want to be old and broke. I can invest wisely. I can invest in me and that’s what CAAB has allowed me to do.”
Jennie Huffman is a life-long learner. A 57-year-old mother of three and grandmother of eight, she recently enrolled in the University of the District of Columbia to earn a degree in business management, but taking classes is nothing new to Jennie.
“I’ve always gone to school and always encouraged my children to go. I’m a voracious reader. My bedroom is full of books. My daughter is also at UDC working on her bachelor’s. My other daughter is going back to school for nursing. Education is very important to us. My children said, ‘Ma, you know so much, you might as well get a degree.’ They’re very proud of me. They said ‘Ma, it’s about time.’"
Jennie’s goal is to use the business management degree to open a bed and breakfast with friends “somewhere warm down south” in the next five to seven years. She’s attending UDC part-time in its hospitality management program. Her major is business administration and her minor is hospitality management. Jennie hopes that with credits from previous undergraduate study, including a computer science program at Strayer University, and life credits, she will be able to graduate in two or three years. She’s not sure yet whether she needs an associate’s or bachelor’s degree to learn everything she wants to know about running a business.
Previously, Jennie worked full-time for 10 years for the teamsters union. While working at that job, she had enrolled in a home buying program through the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization and set up an Individual Development Account with CAAB to save for her first home. Then she was laid off, and realized she couldn’t afford to purchase a home.
“But when one door closes another door opens,” Jennie said. “I thought ‘why not change the IDA and go back to school?’”
Jennie currently works as a temp in the business office of a charter school and attends UDC in the evenings. She enjoys learning aspects of business on the job, such as how to do bank deposits and order supplies. In addition to her UDC classes, Jennie also plans to take entrepreneurship classes. She is eager to learn all she can.
“My business class has given me a sense of wonder,” Jennie said. “I feel smarter. This is something new that I’m learning that I couldn’t have learned from talking with my girlfriends. This is what I need to know to build a sturdy foundation. When I go to invest money I know what a mutual fund is, what a rollover is, what an IRA is. It’s good for me as a woman to know how to manage my own financial affairs. I don’t want to be old and broke. I can invest wisely. I can invest in me and that’s what CAAB has allowed me to do.”
Because she has always been thrifty, Jennie has had little trouble saving for her tuition through her IDA. “My bills are small—rent, cable, and phone,” Jennie explained. “I don’t pay utilities where I live. When I got laid off, I got my whole pension and IRA and I wiped out all my debt. I still have some savings and I rolled my pension over into a money market that I can’t touch. Whenever I have any extra money, I just put it in the bank. I’ve learned to live cheap. Always hit the sale rack. I bought my first car this year for under $2000. I skimp on some things to save for others.”
Jennie’s daughter and her four-year-old grandson moved to DC so Jennie and her daughter could both go to school and take turns watching Jennie’s grandson. Right now Jennie attends class two nights a week and her daughter goes to school the other two nights.
“Next semester I’m going to take more classes, including one on Saturday,” Jennie said. “I’d love to walk across that stage with my daughter. I would love for my children to come to my graduation. I am the matriarch of the family and I have to lead the way.”
