Approach

The Family Independence Initiative: A Third Alternative

After a lecture explaining The Family Independence Initiative at a UC Berkeley class, the professor summarized FII as an alternative way to address poverty that just hasn’t been considered yet. He explained, “The conservatives believe money and help will ‘trickle down’ and the liberals believe in creating programs, but maybe there is a third alternative.” That third alternative is to shift the responsibility for solutions back to low-income communities while creating an environment that provides resources and opportunity to those who take initiative.

FII’s Strength-based Approach For Impacting Poverty

1. We target working-poor* families. Our families are not in crisis, nor are they the “cream,” expected to succeed. They have initiative and potential, but may be stuck for any number of reasons.
2. Families must work together. This country has a long history of people working together to move their whole community from poverty to middle-class status. Modeled on that history, FII families must bring together peers to work with while enrolled in FII. These “natural communities” generally include others of the same ethnicity/race who are connected through church, extended family, culture, and/or other common interests.
3. Families set and act on their own goals. Instead of providing everyone with services or direction, we facilitate families in seeking out the support or knowledge that they want depending on their own goals and priorities. Experience and research demonstrate that when people feel control over and ownership of their solutions the outcomes are improved and sustainable.
4. The intervention is short-term. We challenge families to take control of their lives in two years. Much like someone who wants to lose weight or quit smoking, we frame change with in a set time period. Families report that the time limit and required report monthly keep them focused their goals.
5. The families must have ownership of the project. FII’s staff is forbidden to lead or direct the families. Although most low-income families are accustomed to taking direction—from social workers, for example—in FII they soon see that staff will respond only when families take concrete action.
6. We reward action. Public and philanthropic support focuses on funding programs that identify a low-income family’s needs. FII focuses on identifying the strengths of families. FII acknowledges and rewards progress.
7. We provide support with encouragement and validation. While the monetary rewards are helpful, families say that FII’s trust and belief in their capability is even more valuable.

In the communities we work with it’s rare that a family has ever bought their own home, expanded a business, or taken other steps that build assets or financial security. These communities don’t have peer role models who make these kinds of steps seem realistic. FII challenges families to take a chance and build a stronger asset base. We make available matched savings accounts that can be used for homeownership, business development, and education. By challenging and offering these opportunities, what has happened in each of FII’s pilot sites is that someone has taken the challenge and made a significant change.

All it takes is one person in a peer group to be the first to buy a home or send a child to college for others to believe it’s possible. That role model not only inspires others but also becomes a resource. It’s much easier to buy a home if you know someone like you who has done it and they can tell you how they did it.

The combination of families working together and peer role models breaking through traditional barriers creates a ripple effect through out communities. Expectations of success rise. People believe in themselves and one another. They gain control over their future and that power sustains in ways that social service programs cannot.