Equipping Series: Overcoming the Obstacle of Financial Crises

We often take for granted that we can typically pay our bills when they arrive, or that we can buy groceries when we need to, don’t we?

Take a second and imagine these scenarios:

A woman is holding a stack of bills and has an eviction notice sitting on her table and is thinking to herself, "I can’t even take care of myself, how can I bring a baby into this world?” and then also imagine her with one or more children grabbing for her attention or telling her they are hungry, but she can’t afford to put on the table.  

Another woman is in her dorm room, “My parents said they would cut me off if I got pregnant while I’m at college, if I have this baby I won’t be able to finish school” and her friends are glad to tell her where they got their abortions and how much they cost, “Mine was $450 but the clinic dropped it to $200 when I said I couldn’t pay that much. Your mom won’t even need to know.”

A man is sitting with his girlfriend and searching for an abortion clinic because he just lost his job and she is waiting tables and barely making it, “Honey, I know we don’t want to abort but I don’t see how we can have this baby.  We can have another baby later when things are better for us. I’ll call for the appointment.” 

The vast majority of clients who come to First Choice have some type of financial issue when they come to us.  First Choice has frequently paid bills for clients to release their immediate pressure and to say loudly that we are serious about helping and to show we are here for the long haul. 

This particular article is a start to educating you on how to work with someone at, or below, poverty level who is facing the crisis of an unplanned pregnancy. 

So, how can you and I help someone overcome the FINANCIAL OBSTACLE to choosing LIFE?

1) First, we need to alleviate the initial pressure that is screaming at them to abort.  Typically everything in us would want to vet the validity of that bill or question how they got “that behind” before we pay it but the gospel compels us to show grace and mercy so we take action FIRST help dig someone out.

Remember that their financial pressures are telling them to abort and they are highlighting their failures, this is not the time to “correct bad thinking and decisions”.  This is the time to say, “We will figure out the long-term solutions so you aren't in this position again but for now let us help you get steady.  Unpaid bills are not a reason to make a life impacting decision like abortion.”

A strong and telling question you can ask in this situation is, “If your circumstances were different financially would you prefer to have your baby rather than abort?”  I can’t recall any clients answering that question with anything but a preference to have the baby.  This questions opens the conversation to begin looking at solutions and instilling a sense of hope.

2)  Second, after we help her overcome her immediate crisis we need to help her see past today.  

Address income problems

• Help her update her resume and then help circulate it to friends and family.
• Drive her and/or her partner to fill out job applications and to job interviews.
• Help her find odd jobs like cleaning a friend’s house or babysitting for extra money to fill the gap.
• If the financial issues are attached to finishing school then help by researching scholarship and grant money, and raising funds for her tuition/books/housing.
• Seek financial assistance from your local church on their behalf. 

The key: Use your resourcefulness and ingenuity, God has gifted you so pass along your knowledge and skills

Address expense problems

• Remember that spending habits rarely change in someone overnight!
• Ask her/him to track how they spend their money for a week or two.  Assure them it is not to judge them but to just see where the money is going so you can help them make financial plans to have a few dollars left over at the end of the month.  TIP:  The word “budget” seems to create more anxiety than money managing or financial planning. 
• Remember that spending habits rarely change overnight!
• Help them make a very SIMPLE financial plan so they can see some options for spending differently and so they know what to pay first. Think "baby steps" but ground it in a bigger vision of where little changes can help them succeed in the long run. 
• Remember that spending habits rarely change overnight!
• Share with them the areas in your own life where you have had a hard time managing money and ways you learned to improve (i.e. watching someone in your life, lessons from parents or friends, classes or reading, etc). Transparency will gain you room to speak in to this sensitive area of their lives. 
• Let it go!  There will be expenditures with which you strongly disagree, especially when it is tied to something else you are against, like smoking, having cable TV, or eating out.  You cannot change all of a person's bad habits in one season of life…remember, you don’t change so easily yourself. :)

I repeated myself a lot because money management is an area that it is the easiest to get frustrated when we don’t see quick change. Frequently we have a hard time understanding how someone makes their financial decisions and we think a person should be able to change easily and quickly because it seems so "simple" to us.  

Take a step back and look into your own life at how many people and circumstances impacted how you think about and manage your money.  Then imagine where you would be without ANY of those financial influences and that is exactly where most of our patients are when their primary obstacle to overcome is financial. 

Take away tips:  Take the time to invest in people and walk through the trenches with them.  Through the process use your own resources and knowledge to teach them.  Also, prayerfully ask for help to be humble, open about your own experiences, patient, gentle, and wise. 

Click Here to read about Past Clients Who Are Working To Overcome Their Financial Obstacles