Excerpt from “Making Ends Meet”, North Brunswick Magazine Winter 2019/2020 issue. Article Copyright 2019-20 Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. Read the full article beginning on page 79 of the North Brunswick Magazine Winter 2019/2020 issue, Vol. 14, Issue 2, or online at issu.com.
Overcoming the county’s low-income cycle is tough but do-able with education & grit. Bruncwick Family Assistance illuminates a path to financial stability.
By Ed Beckley
Every morning, rock-solid citizens who barely have enough pocket change to make it through the day wake up and go to work. Right here in Brunswick County, there are those who string multiple part-time jobs together, yet can scarcely afford today’s cost of living.
Brunswick Family Assistance Program Executive Director Stephanie Bowen put it this way: “The average one-bedroom rental here costs $800 a month. If you work eight hours, seven days a week, at the state’s $7.25 minimum hourly wage, more than half your month’s pay (after taxes) goes to rent alone. If you don’t know how to budget and manage your money to the penny, it can spell disaster for your entire family.”
But with just a few hours of free schooling offered by Brunswick Family Assistance (BFA), chances of paying all the bills and holding on to a few extra dillars are much improved.
BFA is a private, nonprofit organization in its 35th year of operation. It provides emergency-only assistance and education and skills development programs for low-income residents in need. BFA partners with other groups locally in an effort to improve the lives of Brunswick County people in crisis who are willing to help themselves. Two of their courses are Financial Literacy, which started in 2014, and Job Skills Training, which began last year.
BFA Director of Operations & Outreach Charles Jackson is one of…
Excerpt from “Making Ends Meet”, North Brunswick Magazine Winter 2019/2020 issue. Article Copyright 2019-20 Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. Read the full article beginning on page 79 of the North Brunswick Magazine Winter 2019/2020 issue, Vol. 14, Issue 2, or online at issu.com.
