So it begins...

Hello! Welcome to my blog! This is my very first blog post and I'm excited!!!!!  My main reason for creating a blog is to talk about what no one seems to be talking about....finances/money....specifically Financial Literacy and Income Taxes for low income families.  Why?  Because I am passionate in both topics and have struggled to find information that is geared towards the less fortunate. I'll share my background in another post to give perspective on my mindset.

Now, about financial literacy - there are plenty of organizations that provide information regarding financial literacy, but it seems like its not getting to the people who have the most to gain from that knowledge. How? Why? What? you may ask...well, I am a volunteer at a non-profit organization that provides eviction prevention to the residents of New York City.  I've been active in facilitating the Financial Literacy Workshops since April 2014 and have had the privilege to meet countless people who were fighting to keep the roof over their heads. Every one of these individuals represented a culture, a ethnicity, a generation, a working class, etc. and they were sitting in a room with me for one reason - Eviction. It's a sad occurrence that is unfortunately too common these days. Those of us who can afford to pay the rent or have someone else pay our rent, make excuses on behalf of the suffering - their lazy, they spent all their rent money on booze and drugs, they don't have the proper training, etc.  Oh, how ignorant are those excuses!!!!  These men and women who seek help from the non profit I am with and others like it are at their wits end. The threat of losing everything you own and the security of shelter is a real and very raw experience. These men and women have had experienced unexpected medical issues, lay-offs at work, discrimination in the workplace, care-taking of elderly parents, fraudulent landlords, etc. Not everyone that attends these classes could be called lazy and squanders of their money. Many of them have had numerous years in the workforce from public school teachers to psychology technicians at a reputable hospital to working with Time Magazine, etc.  Many of them have even shared that they saved as much as they could for emergencies and retirement. However, when those hospital bills came in, or their once secured job laid them off, or when they got the call that their elderly parent can no longer care for themselves, etc., they used their savings for these events, not knowing that some of these events were going to wipe them clean. 

What I'm hoping to accomplish with this blog, is a two-fold- share the need for financial literacy and teach on different financial literacy topics, including income taxes - all in the hopes of raising enough awareness so we can do something about it within our communities, nationwide and world wide. Sounds ambitious, doesn't it?