In seven weeks, Angela Lyons saw one dollar grow to 224.

Her financial gain began with donations from nurses where she takes dialysis. It continued to increase as she saved money by careful spending and eating at home instead of eating out.

Lyons is disabled and has two daughters, one in high school and one attending Hinds Community College in Raymond. She was one of 17 people who seven weeks ago began a United Way of West Central Mississippi-sponsored Financial Education in Your Community program at the Kings Community Empowerment Center. Each received $1 on the first day of class and each was challenged to make it grow.

Monday night, 10 of the members met to tell how they did and receive certificates for completing the class.

Financial education program Ernestine Bilbrew said the class concentrates on helping people change their ideas and habits about money management.

“We’re changing behavior,” she said. “We’re teaching people about money management — spending, credit and savings. Showing them how to do a better job with handling money. Most people are not taught that when they’re younger.”

“This is not a class. This is an empowerment,” said Dexter Jones, the Warren County inventory control clerk and former City of Vicksburg inventory clerk who taught the class. “I call it empowerment because I want to give you an opportunity through United Way to improve your future.”

“It’s not about how much money you have, it’s about how you use the money that you have,” Bilbrew said.

Lyons said the contributions to grow her $1 began after she told the nurses about her class and the project.

“After that, I began cutting out things,” she said. “We love to go to McDonald’s, but we stopped. The money we saved by not eating out, I put aside.”

She added she was more careful shopping, concentrating more on necessities and spending less on such items as soft drinks.

“I learned to plan my spending and how to save,” Lyons said. “It also made me more conscious about eating, because by not eating out, it improved our health,” she said.

Lyons’ story was similar to the accounts of others. They did not match Lyons’ total, but all increased their $1 by cutting back on spending and developing ways to increase their $1. All of them said they learned the value of saving and carefully spending money and holding money aside for emergencies.

Cleothi Williams, an unemployed carpenter, increased his $1 to $87 by eliminating his addiction to snuff. That he said, was the biggest benefit he got from the class.

“When I would get stressed, I’d go buy a can of snuff and dip to relax,” he said. “I stopped doing that, and I put the money I saved in the piggy bank.”

He also canceled his debit card, which he said had caused a major financial drain.

“Anytime I wanted to buy something, I’d pull out the card,” he said. “I was getting overdrafts … it was costing me. I called the bank and canceled my card. Now I’m able to pay my immediate bills and have money left.”

Jones and Bilbrew encouraged class participants to continue the habits they learned.

“It’s all about discipline,” Jones said. “Don’t think that because you’ve completed this class that you can go back to your old ways. You still need to be good stewards of what you have. Be mindful how you spend your money.”

Bilbrew said she and Jones and others with the program would continued to check on them from time to time to see how they are doing.

Jones also gave them another challenge.

“I want you to take the money you raised from your $1 and double it by next year,” he said. “And I’m going to call you and see how you did.”