One in three North Texans can鈥檛 weather a financial storm that lasts 90 days. The problem's known as asset poverty, and it doesn't discriminate. A job loss, health emergency, even legal trouble is enough to plunge a third of our friends and neighbors into financial distress.
is following four North Texas families on the financial edge.
On March 27, a one-hour special will air on 四虎影院-TV, Channel 13, that features these families and explores asset poverty. The special will air again on Channel 13 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. March 30 and 11 p.m. April 8.
The special was taped in front of a live audience at the Dallas City Performance Hall. We livestreamed the event -- we've posted the video below.
During tonight's program, you can join the discussion by submitting comments about poverty on Twitter @keranews using the hashtag .
Meet the four families and explore their stories in our
Video of the forum:
http://youtu.be/gTzpt9uDbw8
Blog focusing on the One Crisis Away forum:
四虎影院鈥檚 Krys Boyd spoke with three experts: Andrea Levere, president, Corporation for Enterprise Development; Alfreda Norman, vice president and community development officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; and Larry James, president & CEO, CitySquare. The event took place in late February, but it will air as a special at 7 p.m. March 27 on 四虎影院-TV, Channel 13.
8:09 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27: The audience is watching a video about the Madrid family of Rockwall. A medical crisis sent them into a financial crisis. Isac Madrid, who was featured in the series, died earlier this month following a lengthy medical battle. Learn more about the family:
7:56 p.m. Thursday: Alfreda Norman: Don鈥檛 put off saving for retirement. Start now.
Andrea Levere: How do we make it easier for people to save for retirement?
How to teach a habit of savings?
Alfreda Norman: Create a diary of everything you spend 鈥� figure out how much you鈥檙e spending. Some people have no idea of how much they鈥檙e spending. Budget to save. Save to invest. Control. Build credit. Reduce debt. And protect it. Sounds easy 鈥� but we鈥檙e not all doing it. So many people don鈥檛 know. It鈥檚 not something you necessarily learn in school. Not talking about it at the dinner table. People don鈥檛 want to talk about budgeting.
7:52 p.m. Thursday: The audience is watching a video of Shirley Martin, featured in One Crisis Away. The retiree works and gets creative to pay the bills.
7:50 p.m. Thursday: Panelists are talking about how a medical crisis can plunge folks into a financial crisis. Alfreda Norman: Regarding health care costs and the uninsured: What we have to begin to realize this sort of this notion that we鈥檙e all in this together. If large portions of the community is not insured that鈥檚 going to affect you in some way. In many ways. It affects there is a cost to helping people if they don鈥檛 have insurance. If everybody is doing well then we will all do well.
7:47 p.m. Thursday: Larry James: Move-in apartment specials in Dallas an issue. Encourages kids to move about the community. Kids pulled out of schools and put into other schools. Those are the realities of low-income working people.
Alfreda Norman: Discusses poverty terms. You might make decent salary, but you have relative poverty because you don鈥檛 have two cars. You don鈥檛 have all the luxury things you see on TV. There鈥檚 this notion of relative poverty. It鈥檚 all very complicated. We鈥檙e all kind of struggling to figure out how to define it. A group called Center for Public Policy Priorities takes a deep dive into how much money it takes for various families to live above poverty line.
Andrea Levere discusses challenges for single-parent families. How we deliver services and YWCA Metropolitan Dallas is opening women鈥檚 center with a model of comprehensive service delivery. No one thing can answer it. How do you take a household and decide what鈥檚 the role of housing, job training, financial counseling, other financial tools.
7:39 p.m. Thursday: The crowd is watching a video about Natalie Berquist, a single mom featured in the series.
7:38 p.m. Thursday: Levere discusses earned income tax credit. There are different levels of poverty. You won鈥檛 be successful unless you meet people where they are. Building financial security includes savings, investments, protections and learning. The most effective anti-poverty l policy is the earned income tax credit, which goes to working families 鈥� despite working full-time jobs, they don鈥檛 have a living wage. It has moved untold people out of poverty. Opportunity Texas is a collaboration that focuses on tax time to get people to save money from tax refund. Effort in various states to do similar state-level earned income tax credit. While lots of jobs are being created in Texas, many are low-paying.
7:30 p.m. Thursday: James: Children are aware of parents鈥� struggles. Asset poverty and the anxiety that comes with that affects children. Income poverty, we鈥檝e seen, really affects children. If a child have hope, they have reason to read at grade level. If they don鈥檛 have hope, all sorts of things happen including not being able to read at grade level. Income is a huge part of how a family is able to live.
Norman: She鈥檚 explaining Subprime credit scores. If you pay bills on time, you have a good credit score. If you鈥檙e constantly late on bills, your score goes down. It鈥檚 your demonstration of how you manage your credit. It鈥檚 important to manage your bills and credit to maintain a good credit score.
Levere: A significant number of people don鈥檛 have bank accounts. A credit score is the password into the economy. Bank account is the first tool you can use to help you work in that economy. There鈥檚 a huge movement around the country to create marketing and collaborative arrangements with financial institutions to create fairly priced accounts. If you don鈥檛 have a savings account, how can you begin to save?
7:23 p.m. Thursday: The audience is watching a video featuring the Dory family of White Settlement.
7:20 p.m. Thursday: 四虎影院鈥檚 Krys Boyd is talking with three leading experts: Andrea Levere, president, Corporation for Enterprise Development; Alfreda Norman, vice president and community development officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; and Larry James, president & CEO, CitySquare.
Levere: You can鈥檛 just sell your house and car today to get resources. What are liquid resources you can get out now [in a crisis]. 鈥� When we think about what makes a healthy community, it鈥檚 all about thinking ahead.
Levere: Changes in economy have reinforced that building human capital is a priority. (Not just having a house.) Thinking about saving very early 鈥� setting up savings accounts for children, as young as Kindergarten. Habits learned early can be very enduring.
7:12 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27: Brent Christopher, president and CEO of the Communities Foundation of Texas, is welcoming the crowd to tonight鈥檚 event. The group asked the Corporation for Enterprise Development to look at Dallas-Fort Worth and get an accurate picture of the region鈥檚 financial health. 鈥淭he snapshot that CFED took was a wake-up call,鈥� he said. About 30 percent of North Texans don鈥檛 have enough of a safety net to stay above the poverty line for three months. Mary Anne Alhadeff, 四虎影院鈥檚 president and CEO, talks about the importance of the project and the response the station has received. Many have contacted the station wanting to help the families featured in the 四虎影院 series 鈥� and some have said they need help themselves. 鈥淭he ability to point people to resources has been an important part of One Crisis Away,鈥� she said.
