My Life is True: A Payday Lending Trap

Sometimes you need a great story to give life to facts, figures and data. That’s one of the things I loved about the couple in Florida who foreclosed on Bank of America. You have this real, absurd, illuminating tale that helps you better understand some of what has occured through the recent mortgage mess.

Our colleague Anne Stuhldreher knows the value of a good story, and she knows that too often an important piece of information gets ignored because policymakers and others aren’t able to identify it. That’s one of the motivating factors behind “My Life is True” a collaboration between Anne and former New America Fellow Doug McGray. My Life is True works to identify ordinary people who might be overlooked in general, and helps them to share an important story about “a significant moment or a stubborn problem.” My Life is True has found a home on KQED, the NPR station for much of Northern California.

One of the first stories coming out of this project is told by Mark Laws. Mr. Laws tells a real story of being trapped in a vicious cycle of payday lending. It’s one thing to show the impact of payday lending through a blog post or a policy report, but the human experience offered here is really powerful and affecting. Give a listen.