FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES 1

Financial Literacy for Empowering Marginalized Communities

Fidel Castro Pozos

LIBS 490-01

Liberal Studies Senior Capstone Project Proposal

Senior Capstone Project Selection:

Secondary Research or Community-Engaged Service-Learning

March 13, 2021

Dr. Phyllis Collins

FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES 2

Financial Literacy For Empowering Marginalized Communities

Financial literacy in marginalized communities is close to none. I have been in touch

with people who do not know what a 401k is or does and people who think retirement accounts

are a scam. In my college career, I have been fortunate to have learned about all this, especially

last semester when I took my first finance class. What an eye-opening class taught by a fantastic

professor; it is a class that should be a requirement to all students regardless of their major

because it teaches you stuff that you will encounter in the real world and stuff that can benefit

you if you pay attention in class. That is why I want to better research this issue to help people in

the community learn about all of the benefits of financial literacy. The main concern of the

undocumented community is dealing with government entities or any banking institution. Most

of them keep money in their houses, either in jars or under their mattresses, according to (Padua

& Doran, 2016):

They don’t understand that if they don’t document that income . . . in the long

term [they] are building barriers . . . to access finances to build a business or a

home . . . your kid’s education or something else. (p. 438)

In today's society, companies know that undocumented communities bring a lot of

profit. That is why they are now aggressively marketing their products in those

communities. The most popular brand among Hispanic communities is Herbalife. This

pyramid scheme company keeps taking advantage of my people because they promised

them "financial freedom", but that company knows that they do not know what that

means. For them, "Financial Freedom" means getting a paycheck. According to

Birkenmaier (2009), "As low-income consumers experience aggressive marketing

campaigns by creditors, the need to strengthen credit literacy becomes more important."
FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES 3

(p.264). That is why I want to do more research into this topic, to serve my community

better; it hurts me to see these companies going after a vulnerable community to take

advantage of them, knowing that if they do them wrong, they will not take any action

because of their status. Hopefully, after researching this topic more in-depth, I can gain

enough knowledge to start teaching them the basics of financial literacy to take advantage

of the opportunities this can bring. The knowledge acquired through my undergrad life

will prepare me to attack this issue. All of the classes I have taken so far have been so

meaningful for my job career and made me a better person ethically speaking.
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References

Padua, L. A., & Doran, J. K. (2016). From being Unbanked to BECOMING unbanked or

Unbankable: COMMUNITY experts describe financial practices of Latinos in East Los

Angeles. Journal of Community Practice, 24(4), 428–444.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2016.1233477

Birkenmaier, J., & Curley, J. (2009). Financial Credit: Social Work's Role in Empowering Low-

Income Families. Journal of Community Practice, 17(3), 251–268.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10705420903117973