Teaching Financial Empowerment

We are scheduled to begin teaching classes on a range of subjects related to money and home ownership.  Like any cultural activity, how we spend money is influenced, at least in part, by our ethnic background. In the book "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, we are cautioned that starting a relationship with low-income people based on needs like these is like asking them "What is wrong with you?" and "How can I fix you?" They say on page 125 that "starting with such questions initiates the very dynamic that we need to avoid, a dynamic that confirms the feelings that we are superior, that they are inferior, and that they need us to fix them." The founders of our parent ministry, Common Ground Montgomery, determined that even though life-on-life engagement is guaranteed to be messy at times, we were going to try as hard as possible to avoid this old problem that is still a sad part of most well-intentioned, inner-city ministries. Moving into the neighborhood to share equally in the problems is just the first step in being more authentically Christ-like. Maybe the hardest place to begin a relationship with another person is when you start talking about their money.  Preachers know this and jokingly accuse themselves of "meddling" when they slog through their annual stewardship sermon.  So how are we going to teach better money management to people who need help? The first way is by establishing the universal need for this type of teaching. We may point to the 2008 Wall Street meltdown as an example of bad money management at the highest levels.  I will point to my personal need to learn better discipline and do a better job of trusting in God by tithing when my household budget is tight.  I will sit with my classmates and take notes as guest teachers come to the neighborhood.  Other ministry personnel will also take the classes helping to demonstrate the more general need for this information.  It may be helpful to ask from time to time "do you think this principle about money is a universal truth or a cultural practice that has limited application in the hood?"

We have to establish criteria for acceptance into the affordable housing program. A requirement to attend these classes is an obvious example and it may be necessary to administer a test to see whether the information has been learned.  This responsibility to cull neighbors down to those who will receive affordable housing through the ministry is a minefield of broken relationships and hurt feelings.  As mentioned in my last post, the assumption is pervasive in the hood that everyone is entitled to a better house without lifting a finger.  Habitat for Humanity may be successful because people may have been more willing to donate knowing that each family is required to invest 400 hours of their own "sweat equity" to qualify.  As more families receive affordable housing from us, we will turn the most important decisions over to their selection committee so the opportunity for affordable housing is neighbor-driven.  If we put relationships first, I hope the Holy Spirit will show us how to encourage our neighbors in ways that glorify God and provide for their futures.