Episode 53 Rashida Dawson - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Rashida Dawson, Vice President of Financial Stability of United Way of Northwest Louisiana, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:45 1. Rashida, let’s start here today. You serve as Vice President of Financial Stability of United Way of Northwest Louisiana and oversee the Shreveport Financial Empowerment Center.

 

Tell me about the center, where it’s located and some of the services it provides.

 

10:42 2. I know the center is doing very important and great work in our community. Share some statistics if you could around the amount of savings the financial empowerment center has helped create for our residents to date.

 

14:24 3. Let’s talk about poverty and ALICE in our community. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. What do the current statistics show are the percentage of people living in poverty in our community? What percentage of our community is ALICE?

 

18:34 4. You are massively involved in our community. Let me cover just a few of the high points:

 

You were formerly President-Elect of the South Shreveport Rotary Club, and a member of BancorpSouth’s CRA Advisory Council, Northwest Louisiana Re-Entry Coalition, and the Young Professionals Initiative (YPI). Additionally, you were a graduate of the 2017 Greater Shreveport Leadership Program and a 2013 graduate of LANO’s Leadership Program.

 

In your opinion, how do we get more young people in our community engaged and involved in serving and giving back?

 

23:24 5. As you look around, what are some of the things that concern you the most about the future of our community?

 

31:30 6. What are some of the things that make you optimistic about the future of our community?