Are you willing to spread some wealth?

Listen to Dave’s Commentary: Are you willing to spread some wealth?

Suppose people with spare money just started paying bills for poor people without the government middle man?

Keith Taylor got to thinking about that when he was in grad school and found himself having to choose between fixing his car and making the rent.

“Because I had to fix the timing belt on my car and I couldn’t afford to do both things, so I fixed the car and very nearly lost my apartment and I would have had someone not stepped in to help me when I really needed it.”

It inspired Keith to set up ModestNeeds.org – a web site where people who need a modest amount of emergency cash, post their stories and people with extra cash donate and then vote.

“They vote. As people give to Modest Needs, we give them points they can use to go in and vote to which applications they’d like to see funded.”

But the money doesn’t go directly to the applicant.

“For example, if somebody is asking for help with car repair, the person who asked is not going to get any money. What we’re going to do is contact the shop and have the car fixed.”

Modest Needs gives out about six million dollars a year. Not a lot, but the impact of preventing homelessness can be huge.

“If we stand by and do nothing, this is how people become homeless. It takes an average of seven years for a person to return to self sufficiency once that happens.”

But could organizations like Modest Needs actually replace government poverty programs.

“A lot of the people who have asked me how to do this very little has come of it because as soon as they realize what’s involved, it’s ‘I’ll just stick with whatever I was doing.’ I’m not going anywhere.”

Keith Taylor – ModestNeeds.org