More than money: Village Bank mentors local youth

Waltham nonprofit More Than Words accepted a check for $5,000 on Thursday, Feb. 13, from the Massachusetts Bankers Association to support financial literacy programs. 

Mass Bankers’s 2025 grant-giving theme is financial literacy. 

The Village Bank, which opened a Waltham branch in December 2023, nominated More Than Words for the grant.

The nomination represents an expansion of the bank’s growing financial literacy mentorship program.

The Village Bank and More Than Words last year launched a partnership that paired Village Bank employees with young employees from the More Than Words bookstore, located at 56 Felton St. 

Bank employees mentor More Than Words employees on banking, saving and financial responsibility. Those are in addition to More Than Words’ ongoing focus on job training and social enterprise. 

Five mentor-mentee pairs worked collaboratively in 2024 on financial literacy, and the program is continuing in 2025.