NFL player Chris Draft inspires youth at Mar Vista Gardens 

Chris Draft, a native of Southern California grew up in Anaheim and said he started playing football at the age of five.  Draft attended Stanford University and graduated with a degree in Economics. He told the students that hard work allowed his dreams to come true. 

 “You can make it, but it’s not going to just happen,” said Draft.

Draft talked about his father who is a football coach and his social worker mother, both who instilled in him that in life, one gets back, how much one puts in.

“You guys came here with a commitment to be better, follow through with it,” Draft told the students. He went on to say that even though, “your starting point may be different, where you finish – you can do something about that.”



The students are participants of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) designed by the Community Development Department.  This year, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles is proud be a part of SYEP and will help hundreds of public housing youth obtain summer jobs.  The financial literacy classes are conducted by Operation HOPE, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping inner-cities through various efforts including advocating for financial literacy through its “Banking on our Future” program.  It provides financial education for youth ages 9-18 at no cost to school districts, with a focus on urban, under-served communities.

The financial literacy class was conducted by Darlene Gartrell with Aon Insurance Group.  The students learned the difference between a checking account and a savings account.  Gartrell focused on trying to teach the youth about “Wants vs. Needs” and how that affects ones finances;

“Think about saving for a rainy day … don’t just run to the mall,” said Gartrell. 

Eight-teen years old Darshaye Miles said she got helpful information from the class, “about how to balance my money at a bank and opening an account at a bank.”

Daniel Delgado, 14 years old, said he was inspired by Chris Draft message. “If you really want to accomplish something, just go out and do it,” said Delgado.

Operation HOPE will conduct the financial literacy training courses throughout the summer at various HACLA sites.

To learn more about Operation Hope and Chris Draft Family Foundation, please click on the below links.

Operation Hope

Chris Draft Family

 Photos above: Chris Draft taking picture with the youth, Chris Draft talking about his experiences and motivating youth, Darlene Gartrell with Aon Insurance Group conducting the Financial Literacy class.