Building Stronger Futures Through Education and Opportunity
Legacy Builders Foundation equips youth and families with literacy, financial knowledge and practical life skills that help create stronger, more economically secure futures.
Our three pillars
Literacy.
Strong readers become confident learners. Reading opens every other door.
Financial Knowledge.
Budgeting, saving, credit, and insurance awareness taught in plain, practical language.
Life Skills.
Leadership, goal setting, career exposure, and the confidence to plan a future.
2026 Youth Literacy Grant Award Recipient
Dollar General Literacy Foundation
Legacy Builders Foundation received a Youth Literacy grant award from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to support Read to Wealth: Youth Literacy & Financial Empowerment Program. The award advances literacy instruction and age-appropriate financial learning for Aurora youth and their families.
Read about the funded initiativeWho We Serve
Legacy Builders Foundation serves youth and families in Aurora, Illinois, with a focus on communities where access to literacy support, financial education, and practical life skills can create meaningful long-term opportunity.
Through Read to Wealth, Legacy Builders Foundation is designed to serve 75 at-risk youth in grades 3 through 6 from underserved Aurora neighborhoods, including students reading below grade level and English Language Learners.
As a community-based organization, we work with youth across Aurora-area school districts, including East Aurora School District 131, West Aurora School District 129, and Indian Prairie School District 204. The funded cohort is projected to be predominantly Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino, while also serving white and multiracial youth.
Three core programs, one connected path forward
Each program builds on the others. Children learn to read and understand money, families gain practical financial tools, and young people prepare to lead their own futures.
Read to Wealth: Youth Literacy and Financial Empowerment Program
Our flagship program strengthens youth literacy while integrating age-appropriate financial concepts, practical money lessons, culturally relevant learning, and family engagement.
The current funded initiative is designed for youth in grades 3 through 6, including below-grade-level readers and English Language Learners.
- 75
- youth served
- 3 to 6
- grade levels
- 32
- week program
- 4 hrs
- weekly instruction
Financial Foundations for Families
Practical financial education for households: budgeting, saving, credit awareness, insurance awareness, goal setting, and everyday money management, taught in workshops and classes families attend together.
This is education for everyday decisions, not financial advising, lending, debt settlement, or product sales.
Learn about family sessions
Future Builders
A youth life skills, leadership, and career readiness program focused on confidence, mentorship, entrepreneurship and business exposure, goal setting, and future planning.
Explore Future Builders
Money education families can use this week
Financial knowledge runs through everything we do. Across our programs, youth and families practice the everyday skills that build stability and open opportunity.
Budgeting and saving
Building a simple plan for money coming in and going out, and setting aside savings for goals and surprises.
Credit awareness
Understanding what credit is, how it is built, and how everyday decisions shape long-term options.
Life insurance awareness
Learning why protection matters for families and how it fits into a household plan.
Financial confidence
Replacing uncertainty with vocabulary, habits, and questions families feel comfortable asking.
Business and funding basics
Age-appropriate introductions to entrepreneurship, earning, and how ideas become ventures.
All sessions are educational and are not regulated financial, insurance, or investment advice.
Why Our Work Matters
Many youth and families face barriers that affect academic progress, financial confidence, and long-term opportunity. Reading below grade level makes every subject harder, and limited access to financial education makes it difficult for households to plan, save, and build stability.
Legacy Builders Foundation helps close those gaps through accessible education, practical tools, and community-centered support. We meet families where they are and give them knowledge they can apply immediately at home, in the classroom, and in the years ahead.
Knowledge shared with one child reaches a whole family, and a whole family can change a community.
Meet Sdahrie Howard
Founder, President and Executive Director
Sdahrie Howard founded Legacy Builders Foundation after seeing, again and again, how financial illiteracy limits families that are working hard to move forward. She holds two degrees and has long been passionate about empowering children, teens, and adults whenever they need it.
Her work centers on financial literacy, life insurance awareness, credit education, and business funding and entrepreneurial knowledge, so that the next generation can build generational wealth and stronger opportunities for their families and communities.
Read her story
Annual Financial Literacy Fair
A signature community event bringing workshops, youth money activities, family resources, and local partners together in one welcoming day.