How to really help the really needy
We conducted ethnographic research of clients of the Foundation's Center for Working Families. These were families living in one of the poorest sections in Atlanta. We started with in-depth study of the financial skill-building provided by the Center. Social models were then developed to understand the clients more broadly. Mapping clients to one social model produced the imperative to use drug-addiction-style interventions to achieve "epiphanies" about financial problems. Another imperative was to "meet people where they are" which grounds epiphanies in everyday surroundings and in front of family-member "witnesses" and enablers. |
