Thursday, March 28, 2024

Kayla Habermehl

Recent Articles

NEWS

New college loan repayment program aims to help students

A new program aims to give recent college graduates a safety net if they aren’t able to pay student loans back right away. SafeStart will provide financial literacy training during college, personal debt counseling after college and loan repayment protection, said Carlo Salerno, the principal at BridgeSpan Financial LLC, SafeStart’s parent company, co-founder of SafeStart and executive vice president of external relations. “Basically, it’s private deferment, and the whole purpose of private deferment is to let you shift your student loan payment to a time when you’re better able to afford them,” Salerno said.

NEWS

Blue Cross funds program to address childhood obesity

MSU, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Grand Rapids Public Schools are hoping to make Grand Rapids children more FIT. The collective is working on a project called the FIT initiative, which is funded by a $1 million grant from Blue Cross. Tracy Thompson, director of the FIT program and outreach specialist in the MSU College of Human Medicine, said the program aims to help all children, regardless of body size. “The directive is to address childhood obesity and we’re trying to be aware of the fact that it’s not just taking those who happen to be overweight but children of all sizes,” Thompson said.