Tulsa World: DVDs aim to advise Hispanics

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DVDs aim to advise Hispanics

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Francisco Trevino: "I think this is a very good tool."

By LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer
Published: 7/24/2008 2:11 AM
Last Modified: 7/24/2008 3:48 AM

A free DVD set to help Hispanics improve their financial literacy was previewed Wednesday at a luncheon attended by some members of the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The three-disc DVD set, which was funded by Freddie Mac, is available through Bank of Oklahoma Mortgage.

The DVD set, titled "Nuestro Barrio" — Spanish for "our neighborhood" — contains 13 episodes that present financial information in a telenovela, or soap opera, format. The Spanish-language miniseries about Hispanic life in the United States aims to provide education and entertainment, or "infotainment," on varying issues including banking and home ownership.

Freddie Mac funded the creation of the DVD, which was developed by the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina.

"The primary goal is to support our lenders in reaching the Hispanic market, which is a rapidly growing mortgage market. Our secondary goal is to educate the community because an educated borrower is a successful borrower, or a more successful borrower," said Tim Hathaway, Freddie Mac's Southwest regional manager of expanding markets.

"Reaching folks in a culturally appropriate way has proven to be very successful, moreso than reading a manual that's one inch thick or going to class every night for six weeks. So it's a great way to convey difficult messages."

The DVD episodes help answer key questions about issues such as buying a home, keeping money safe, staying out of debt and avoiding scams.

"Not many of us really want to be told that we need to go on a budget or have to pay off creditors to get our credit scores up. But all those messages that are so critical to improving our financial literacy are built into each of these episodes," Hathaway said.

Once people understand the mortgage process, they'll be much more successful borrowers and homeowners, he said.

Hathaway noted that the huge growth in subprime and predatory lending over the last few years made it easy for anyone to get a loan, regardless of creditworthiness. As a result, the country has seen a slew of foreclosures involving people who got into the wrong kind of mortgages. Now the lending industry is returning to the basics, he said.

Francisco Trevino, the Hispanic chamber's executive director, said it would be the host of a "red carpet event" Oct. 15 at the Circle Cinema to promote "Nuestro Barrio." The information also may be taken to some churches.

"We're going to try take it everywhere because I think this is a very good tool to educate the community in learning how not to get tangled up with all this paperwork. The more you get informed, the better home buyer you will be. Buying a home is a big step," Trevino said.

BOk Mortgage has ordered more copies of the DVD set, which soon will be available. It also is offering free Spanish-English booklets about home-buying. For more information, call 488-7140.

Laurie Winslow 581-8466
laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com By LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer

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