Struggling Oakland Families Lift Themselves Out Of Poverty

By Good News Network Saturday, July 14, 2012

Civics and World - General

Maurice Miller remembered how his mother was a poor Mexican immigrant, and somehow figured out — on her own — how to get out of poverty.

As head of social service programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, he wondered, why don't we pay poor families to show us what they would do to similarly lift themselves up?

The result was the Family Independence Initiative, a nonprofit now run by Miller. Its purpose is to encourage low-income families to form small groups and help each other figure out how to get ahead.

And the initial results have been impressive.

The first 86 families that participated saw their incomes shoot up an average 20 percent over two years. Children's school grades have also gone up. So too have homeownership rates and savings.

(READ the story from NPR News)

Photo from Agathabrown on Morguefile