8: The Money Problem: Sound Outreach Collab

Today’s episode is a special collaboration with Sound Outreach’s Credit Up podcast hosted by Jeff Klein, Sound Outreach’s CEO. Sound Outreach is focused on helping people in Pierce County be financially empowered. Jessica and Claire talk with Jeff about the complexities of figuring out one’s finances, and how everything is more complicated for people in domestic violence situations. Listen and share, you’ll learn something new on today’s podcast and might even take another look at your own finances after this episode!

Finances and Domestic Violence – Financial abuse is a common tactic used in domestic violence (https://ncadv.org/blog/posts/quick-guide-economic-and-financial-abuse). Victims may not have access to their finances or have no credit (having relied on their partner's credit accounts), which prevent them from securing housing of their own. Some victims have had employment-related abuse and have never had a job, which forces them to be financially dependent on their abuser, so when they are able to leave their abuser they have limited resources and no income to help secure basic needs.

It costs a lot to be poor – There are so many additional barriers that exist when you have poor financial history (https://www.thesimpledollar.com/three-reasons-its-more-expensive-to-be-poor/). For example, your credit score can affect so many things, like car insurance rates, so if you have bad credit your car insurance rates are much higher and more expensive, but in order to improve your credit score you need to have a greater income. For many people a car is a must-have, and it’s needed even more when it might have to be your home for the night, as is the case with some survivors of domestic violence. Another common barrier is minimum balances on bank accounts, if you are unable to hold a certain amount in your bank account, that can cost anywhere from $5-15 per month just to have the account – and that doesn’t include expensive overdraft fees for accounts without the minimum balance. All of these things mean higher costs for people with less money.

Learn more about Sound Outreach and financial empowerment by visiting their website at http://www.soundoutreach.org/.