Financial Literacy: What About The Schools?

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Stan Holt

As some of you might know, we have created a matched savings program for young people who are aging out of the foster care system. Two years were spent planning and developing the program. We’ve been talking with people in the community about the program and about the need for opportunities for these young people to not only earn money, but to learn how to manage their money. Financial literacy develops the knowledge and skills needed to make deliberate and effective financial decisions. According to the Jump$tart Coalition’s 2008 study of high school seniors and college students, financial literacy for high schoolers has fallen to its lowest levels.

When volunteers and experts from the community began planning the program, there was a question about working in the public schools in the Triangle. At the time, it seemed like too big a target to create an impact. We wanted to start with a smaller population and have some success before we took whatever program we created to a larger scale. Eventually, we agreed that working with young people aging out of foster care is a finite number of at-risk youth that we can help and we can evaluate the program effectiveness quickly. Continue reading →

Light rail and affordable housing as a step in poverty reduction in the Triangle.

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Stan Holt

Image from transportation.tsu.edu

Triangle Transit just announced that the Orange Durham section of a 30 mile light rail transit system connecting Wake, Durham, and Orange County will be built first. It certainly is exciting news. It also presents a great opportunity to help reduce poverty.

Transportation is a key element in helping people move across the community. Enabling an individual to easily and efficiently get from home to work creates an opportunity to improve a household’s income. Linking services along transportation corridors, also makes those services accessible to those who need the help. However, all of this requires planning.

Furthermore, it is important to preserve affordable housing close to transportation hubs in the community. Affordable housing enables lower income families to readily access the transportation. Senior citizens and others who are dependent on others for transportation will be able to go to the grocery store, shop and socialize if we locate affordable housing around these transportation hubs. It is tempting for a community to let higher property values drive low wealth households from a transportation hub, but the benefits enabling them to stay close to this valuable resource are far greater.

I hope that planners in Durham and Orange County begin the process of discussing how to preserve affordable housing close to the transportation hubs created by this new light rail system.

Happy 75th Birthday:Gifts From The Party

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Stan Holt

Photo from memorable-events.com

Yesterday there was a 75th birthday to celebrate. I had the opportunity to go to Triangle Family Service’s Money on the Move event. It was chalk full of information sessions and guest speakers that focused on some of Triangle Family Services core financial services. Learning about credit scores, how young people spend their money, strategies for saving and buying your first home were just a few of the topics covered in the breakout sessions. They had two guest speakers; NC State Treasurer, Janet Cowell, and noted architect and author Sarah Susanka. It was Triangle Family Service’s way of celebrating their 75th birthday. Continue reading →

Building trust as part of the common agenda

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Stan Holt

I’ve been thinking more about building a common agenda amongst a diverse group of people. So how do we find a common agenda, when there are so many agendas at play? In addition to finding a common cause or root problem, we have to follow one of the steps found in Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; seek first to understand and then be understood. It is important to start by listening before we promote our own agendas as we build a common agenda. Listening to diverse opinions, thoughts, and experiences is a key step in getting the important information onto the table; it is the place to start. That said, active listening is not easy and requires some skills which you can read about in other places.

Building trust among those of us with diverse opinions is, hopefully, an outcome of the listening that occurs. From where I sit building a common agenda requires the ability to relax into the trust of a group I’m working with and that the group will hold my interests, even if my personal/professional agenda is not at the forefront of the conversation. If I don’t feel that I’m being supported, then likely, I’m not going to be able to come to a common agreement about what happens next. If I feel that you have disrespected my experience or do not value what I bring to the table, in all likelihood, I’ll walk away from the table.

Over the years, in working with various organizations and various groups of people. I have heard, “We have got to focus on the outcome, we can’t afford the time it takes to focus on the process. We simply need to get over these issues and move on.” It seems the drive for productivity supercedes the need for understanding. Lacking understanding can be a real mistake. Groups run the risk of losing vital information that can shape the common agenda. It can eliminate some of the essential energy used to create the long term sustainability needed in order to actually achieve the common agenda.

As we continue to build and work towards solving issues connected to poverty, these lessons will be valuable. I will try and remember these along the way. I hope others can too.

Artwork courtesy of spring-blend.blogspot.com

A common cause creates a common agenda

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Stan Holt

Image from blog.centerforgiving.org

I introduced the concept of collective impact a couple of weeks ago in my blog post. One of the first characteristics of creating collective impact is to define a common agenda. It sounds easy, right? We all agree to go in a common direction.

Well, when it comes to community organizing and finding a common agenda, it is one of the most difficult things to do. The difficulty is created because each person brings their own agenda and, when part of an organization brings their organization’s mission or purpose to the agenda setting table. Our own personal agendas come from our own experiences in life. Perhaps we grew up poor and have experienced the embarrassment of being teased for wearing garage sale clothes. Perhaps we have been called a “queer” or “faggot” without really knowing what the words meant, yet felt the shame associated with the power behind the derogatory terms being thrown in our direction. These personal experiences will shape our agendas. Continue reading →