I wish to acknowledge the excellent Maine Voices column April 20 by David Libby, president of Town & Country Federal Credit Union, which focused upon April being Financial Literacy Month. As executive director of ProsperityME, I want to thank both Mr. Libby and the Portland Press Herald for bringing this important issue to the attention of the public.

ProsperityME is the only nonprofit in Maine that is exclusively focused upon financial literacy as a vital skill for immigrants to acquire as they navigate through their challenging journeys to establish a new home. We are an immigrant-led and -managed organization.

ProsperityME’s mission is to empower, through education and counseling, refugees and immigrants to invest in themselves to build financial stability, careers, businesses and wealth. Our vision is that all Maine refugees and immigrants will achieve financial stability and improve their quality of life. This will enable them to become contributing members to our communities and our state.

As a society we need to recognize that our newly arrived immigrants often encounter a financial system that is very different from the one in the countries they left behind. Just as learning English through English Language literacy classes is critical to their futures, so is knowledge about banking, savings, mortgages and budgeting. These knowledge skills are critical to assisting them in reaching their dreams for themselves and their families.

ProsperityME will be celebrating its 11th anniversary at our Community Block Party, which will be held at Ocean Gateway in Portland on May 7 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Please consider joining us for this special event. You will learn about what ProsperityME is doing to assist our immigrant communities in all aspects of financial literacy, and how you can participate in our mission.

Claude Rwaganje

Portland