The Precipice Foundation
Donation protected
The Precipice Foundation helps people at risk of becoming homeless, before they fall over that financial cliff-edge.
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The majority of Americans today, live straight out of their pockets, paycheck-to-paycheck.
These are good, hard-working people. They pay their taxes, keep up-to-date on their bills, and they do everything that a good, upstanding citizen ought to do; but at the end of the month, they're lucky if they have a positive balance in their bank account.
Then, one day, their kid gets injured, or they get sick, or their car breaks down.
And that's it; that's when they've fallen over The Precipice, into poverty or homelessness.
An emergency costing a few hundred dollars can mean that they can't afford rent that month, or they can't afford transportation, or food, and the problems begin to snowball. Eventually, they lose their job. They lose their home. They lose everything.
Maybe they turn to a payday loan service... but if they use a payday loan this paycheck, their next paycheck goes to paying it off, so they'll need another... and another...
And if they could just barely get by before, they certainly can't afford the 400% - 790% APR that's charged for payday loans!
These good, hard-working, honest people, will become our nation's homeless population.
Not because they're lazy. Not because they aren't intelligent. Not because they're bad people; but because they were unlucky.
These people are the foundation upon which our society rests, and they need your help.
The Precipice is where they find themselves just after disaster strikes, but just before they lose their car, their job, and eventually, their home.
The Precipice Foundation steps in at that critical moment, and helps them pull themselves back up over the cliff edge, and begin clawing their way back to normality.
First, we explore any options that may be available, that don't cost money directly. For example, we might help them fill out Social Security Disability paperwork if their situation warrants it, or we may help them explore options like Food Stamps or food banks, to help offset their budget in their favor by reducing their grocery costs to get them over the precipice. We might help them explore public health options for them or their children to help cover medical costs if that suits their situation. Or we might help them find a place to donate plasma, or otherwise and earn a little extra money. Anything to weather the storm.
If connecting them with existing options or social programs doesn't pull them back over the edge, we may then step in and pay whatever unexpected bill has put them in this situation; or we might pay whatever portion that they aren't able to.
But we don't stop there. Once the crisis is over, we connect them with volunteer financial advisors to help them build a robust budget, and see where they might be able to trim a little fat from their expenses, and start saving a little money for a future emergency.
We can also connect them with training programs and recruitment specialists to help them grow in their current job, or find a new one!
Our goal is not just to throw money at the problem; it's to make it so that once a family is pulled back from the precipice, they are loaded up with the tools and training necessary to reduce the risk that they'll find themselves in that situation again.
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Consider the cost of bringing someone out of poverty or homelessness once they've already gone over the precipice, and compare that with the cost of keeping them from going over in the first place!
By investing in your neighbors before they've gone over the precipice, we can make much more effective use of your donation.
If you're not in a financial position to be able to donate, the best thing you can do to support this project, is to follow us on Twitter, share this campaign and help raise awareness.
Thank you for reading.
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Some relevant statistics:
-According to an article published by USA Today in 2018, nearly 80% of all Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Source.
-CNN reports that 40% of Americans can't come up with $400 for an emergency expense, according to this Federal Reserve Board study .
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The majority of Americans today, live straight out of their pockets, paycheck-to-paycheck.
These are good, hard-working people. They pay their taxes, keep up-to-date on their bills, and they do everything that a good, upstanding citizen ought to do; but at the end of the month, they're lucky if they have a positive balance in their bank account.
Then, one day, their kid gets injured, or they get sick, or their car breaks down.
And that's it; that's when they've fallen over The Precipice, into poverty or homelessness.
An emergency costing a few hundred dollars can mean that they can't afford rent that month, or they can't afford transportation, or food, and the problems begin to snowball. Eventually, they lose their job. They lose their home. They lose everything.
Maybe they turn to a payday loan service... but if they use a payday loan this paycheck, their next paycheck goes to paying it off, so they'll need another... and another...
And if they could just barely get by before, they certainly can't afford the 400% - 790% APR that's charged for payday loans!
These good, hard-working, honest people, will become our nation's homeless population.
Not because they're lazy. Not because they aren't intelligent. Not because they're bad people; but because they were unlucky.
These people are the foundation upon which our society rests, and they need your help.
The Precipice is where they find themselves just after disaster strikes, but just before they lose their car, their job, and eventually, their home.
The Precipice Foundation steps in at that critical moment, and helps them pull themselves back up over the cliff edge, and begin clawing their way back to normality.
First, we explore any options that may be available, that don't cost money directly. For example, we might help them fill out Social Security Disability paperwork if their situation warrants it, or we may help them explore options like Food Stamps or food banks, to help offset their budget in their favor by reducing their grocery costs to get them over the precipice. We might help them explore public health options for them or their children to help cover medical costs if that suits their situation. Or we might help them find a place to donate plasma, or otherwise and earn a little extra money. Anything to weather the storm.
If connecting them with existing options or social programs doesn't pull them back over the edge, we may then step in and pay whatever unexpected bill has put them in this situation; or we might pay whatever portion that they aren't able to.
But we don't stop there. Once the crisis is over, we connect them with volunteer financial advisors to help them build a robust budget, and see where they might be able to trim a little fat from their expenses, and start saving a little money for a future emergency.
We can also connect them with training programs and recruitment specialists to help them grow in their current job, or find a new one!
Our goal is not just to throw money at the problem; it's to make it so that once a family is pulled back from the precipice, they are loaded up with the tools and training necessary to reduce the risk that they'll find themselves in that situation again.
---
Consider the cost of bringing someone out of poverty or homelessness once they've already gone over the precipice, and compare that with the cost of keeping them from going over in the first place!
By investing in your neighbors before they've gone over the precipice, we can make much more effective use of your donation.
If you're not in a financial position to be able to donate, the best thing you can do to support this project, is to follow us on Twitter, share this campaign and help raise awareness.
Thank you for reading.
---
Some relevant statistics:
-According to an article published by USA Today in 2018, nearly 80% of all Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. Source.
-CNN reports that 40% of Americans can't come up with $400 for an emergency expense, according to this Federal Reserve Board study .
Organizer
Tim Davis
Organizer
Vancouver, WA
