​By: Brando Sencion, Program Coordinator of Santa Cruz Community Ventures
 
For years consumers have been “set up to fail” by short term lenders with services such as payday loans. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been calling for payday lenders to ensure that the borrowers have the ability to repay their loans, according to its terms and limit how much, customers can borrow.
 
Until today, payday lending was regulated by individual states policies. Some states had strict policy and others had no policies at all to protect families from these services. Thousands of store front payday loan services across the country, lend millions of dollars each year to families attempting to make ends meet. The inability of these families to repay the loans, more than often place them in a cycle of debt.
 
Under the new rules issued by the CFPB, payday loans will have to follow a complex set of guidelines to ensure the customer have the ability to repay what they borrowed. The lender is required to verify the borrower’s income and check other financial obligations such as rent, child support, student loans, etc. The short-term loans must be structured to allow the customer to gradually get out of debt. However, a short-term loan under $500, is not required to meet the affordability test. Additionally, the payday loan affordability test does not apply to lenders issuing less than 2,500 loans a year.
 
The newly issued policy is a great leap in the right direction, but there is more to be done. Other recommended policies for payday loans that need to be addressed are placing interest rate caps, limiting loan fees, limiting balloon payments and interest payments schedules. 

By Maria Cadenas, Executive Director of Santa Cruz Community Ventures

Last week I had the privilege of being in our nation's capitol as part of the HOPE Leadership Institute (HLI). It was our last session as a fellowship cohort  of 30 Latina Leaders from across California.  To say that I am humbled by them is not giving them justice. 

When I signed up for HLI, I was seeking a way to do more. And yet, as the days went by I realized that what I was actually getting was the words and tools to share my story and listen to stories of the women around me. It was in this finding and telling that I was given the strength to better partner with the communities I care so much about.

I was reminded of the power of stories. How its through our stories that we get to know each other as neighbors, coworkers, and friends. I was reminded that it is in this weaving of stories that we connect.  How we forge relationships and dialogue. Where we find space for new  ways and innovation. 

Sometimes, in the day to day efforts to create policy and processes, we forget the very human journey and reason we do what we do. We persist on affordable healthcare because it is about keeping people living and thriving. We persist on fair immigration policies because it is about families being together and the communities we live next door to. We persist because not doing so dishonors the very shoulders we stand on. 

Persistence means continued  effort.  A commitment to keep on keeping on. And today that means continuing to tell our stories on the value of the ACA and how it changed our lives and communities for the better - making us a #HealthierUS.

Today persistence means continuing to share the stories and value of our #DREAMers and immigrant families and neighbors. 

Today is about taking the time to know each other's story, finding our care and love for each other as people, and remembering that the world we want can only happen if we work towards it. 

By Maria Cadenas, Executive Director of Santa Cruz Community Ventures

​On the heels of Labor Day Weekend celebrations the White House announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. For many, this was an expected move, one that we hoped would not arrive. After all, DACA was a small step in recognizing who we want to be and can be as a people and a country. It was saying that you are valued as a human being, a neighbor, a part of our community. And in doing so it made us stronger. DACA provided $200 billion to the economy and one-fifth of DACA recipients work in the health care and educational sector.

But what DACA, in its own imperfect way, was really about was saying that there is no "other" in America.

And that is the real reason to defend DACA, because its end is a blatant effort to reinforce the "other." A society for some and only available to others if the ruling class approves.

And that is the great tragedy. This is not about being shocked at the administration. It is not about political expediency. This is an effort to codify and define who America is for and who it is not for. An effort to codify who gets to participate in this great American Dream - from our schools to our economy.

The question is, does the United States, as a people, want that caste system? Because DACA is not about DREAMers, it is about who we want to be.

So I ask you, in the spirit of the Labor Movement, which side are you on?

By Maria Cadenas, Executive Director of Santa Cruz Community Ventures 

Our work at SCCV is grounded on our belief that a new economy that creates a more equitable, sustainable, and just community for all is possible and necessary.  

Our work is beyond poverty, beyond access to a broken system. Our work is about the world we want to see and the economic and business systems that will help us get there. We are at a point of innovation, imagination, and vision.  

​Our work is based on the U.S. ideals that we are all created equal and with the promise that we have indelible right to life, liberty, and happiness.   

But to build something new, to emerge beyond the world we know, we have to acknowledge and recognize the hate and divisiveness that came into full view in Virginia this weekend.  

If we are brave enough to take on changing our economic and business models, we must be brave enough to talk about race. When we talk about working to create a new economy, when we speak about wealth gaps and affordability, we are talking about the fact that the system itself does not work. And it does not work precisely because of the inequities it is built on. 

Today, I ask that we have the courage to be visible and intentional about our support of those U.S. ideals of equity and opportunity for all.   
​
Let us remember, that to speak of innovation and truly bring change, we have to take a long hard look at unspoken assumptions, unacknowledged privilege, and have the courage to acknowledge that we are in this together. After all, there is only us.  
 
#NotSilent 

​Poor families are constantly thinking about money and savings – save for a car to get to that job, for that rental deposit to move out of the shelter, or for tuition to get an education. Savings is what they aspire and need to do to get out of poverty.  But they can’t save because the safety net programs we created as a society actively discourage it by using asset limits. 
 
Asset limit policies create a catch-22 for poor families where if they try to save to move out of poverty they lose basic need support that their savings cannot replace – things like health, food, and rental assistance.  
 
Take for example Santa Cruz, where the cost of is 34.7% above the national average. According to Zillow, the average price of rent is about $2,900. To move a family usually must have the deposit and the first month of rent – or about $5,800. Usually landlords also ask for the last month of rent, making the total cost closer to $8,700. However, in California, the cash assistance program under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has limits of $2,000 for single recipients or $3,250 if household includes person over 60.
 
For these reasons eight states, Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Marilyn, Ohio, and Virginia, have eliminated the TANF asset limits. The elimination of asset limits recognizes the fact that without savings temporary setback such as job loss, illness, or car trouble can set a family back and prevent them from leaving poverty behind.
 
Families in Santa Cruz county already find it difficult to save and live in an area with extremely high cost of living. Many depend on these public benefits to make ends meet.  It would be a lot easier for them to flourish without barriers inhibiting their asset growth.
 
In states that removed asset limits it has been found that removing the asset test did not greatly rise the number of new applicants for public benefits. In fact, the majority of applicants were already in asset poverty. Research has also found that removing the asset limits reduces time, effort and cost to each programs administration.
 
In financial counseling, we also recommend that families have 6 months of living expenses have in case of emergency.  That is much more than $2,000.  Asset limits are then not only preventing families from saving to move out of poverty, they are actively discouraging families from exhibiting healthy financial behaviors.
 
Call your representative and let them know that asset limit reform needs to happen in the state of California, as well as all over the country. Our communities deserve the opportunity to grow and prosper. 

Kiana Morales got her Financial Counselor certification two weeks ago. She has worked hard and held multiple financial capability workshops with middle school girls in Santa Cruz County.

"Getting certified in financial counseling has broadened my knowledge and will help develop more in depth workshops for the middle school girls," said Kiana. "The middle school students that I have had workshops with really enjoyed them and even said they would attend more if they were available."

Kiana is one of the first Youth Financial Capability Interns at Santa Cruz Community Ventures. An effort to increase financial knowledge, skills, and access for youth in our community. In her role she has developed and launched a middle school peer curriculum in the Pajaro Valley.

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Last week, I had to  listen to family and friends as they shared their stories of being bullied and intimidated immediately following the election results.  I had to listen to the fear that is now part of their bodies. I had to make peace with the almost numb resignation I found in myself.  Yes, the election hurt me to my core.

Last week was not an easy week. The political environment we are in is incomprehensible to me. For over 20 years I have worked to make sure that our communities and country moved closer to a place of equity and justice. And yet, last week I had to force myself to remember to stand.

We are stewards of hope. And not hope of access to a  broken system or that something will happen in the future.  Our hope is a demand, a war cry, that the system must change right now because people are hurting right now.

I know that our work is but a thread in a much larger and complex tapestry of justice.  Remember, we don't stand alone. We are loved, valued, and needed. And we will move forward.

We're going to speak up, stand up, be out, be visible, and not allow abuse. After all, we stand on the shoulders of giants and we will rise together. These are the front lines of the fight that we were born  to fight. And we will win.  

In solidarity,

Maria T Cadenas
​
mariacadenas.com