{"id":183,"date":"2016-08-31T20:06:55","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T20:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/debt\/?p=183"},"modified":"2016-09-06T21:08:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-06T21:08:55","slug":"a-single-mother-chose-to-file-bankruptcy-but-not-to-give-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/debt\/2016\/08\/31\/a-single-mother-chose-to-file-bankruptcy-but-not-to-give-up\/","title":{"rendered":"A Single Mother Files For Bankruptcy But Isn’t Giving Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The North Texas economy is characterized as strong — there are lots of\u00a0good-paying jobs and unemployment is low. M<\/em>any working families, though, are struggling — and the debt is piling up. For some, that debt\u00a0gets tougher to control as each day passes.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Fords \u2014 April, a single mother, her 12-year-old daughter Ja’Mya and 14-year-old son, Jeffrey, Jr. \u2014 live in a cozy two-bedroom apartment in North Richland Hills.<\/p>\n

For years, Ford\u00a0worked frantically to keep a grip on growing debt. She\u00a0finally decided she was out of options \u2014 and filed for bankruptcy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ford\u00a0has been a single parent since Ja’Mya was born. She also raised two of her sister\u2019s kids, as well as a great-niece.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was four kids, me and a newborn at one time,” she says.<\/p>\n

She was living in Louisiana then, working full-time during the school year as a preschool teacher for\u00a0Head Start<\/a>, a federal program that promotes school readiness among young children.<\/p>\n

\"April

April Ford chose to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2011 after falling behind financially for several summers. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

From Full-Time Job To Financial Downturn<\/h4>\n

During the summers, Ford\u00a0filed for unemployment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s when my finances really got out of hand,” she said. “I would go from making $2,500 a month to making $800 a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

April kept this up for several years, falling further behind each summer and wracking up\u00a0debt. She had to ask family and friends for personal loans and carry a balance on her credit cards.\u00a0She fell behind on her mortgage and car note, too.<\/p>\n

She jumped at a chance for a year-round job with Head Start, even though it paid $10 an hour instead of the $14 she made before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still never got caught up until maybe around income tax time,” she said. “By then, you owe your income tax out because you owe people plus all of the debt you accrued during the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford says she thought about her finances all day, every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really overwhelming, like to the point where there were a lot of times that I\u2019d just cry because I don\u2019t know what else to do,” she said.<\/p>\n

She just couldn\u2019t see a way out.<\/p>\n

In November 2011, she decided she need to file bankruptcy because she was further behind financially than she had originally thought, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really overwhelming, like to the point where there were a lot of times that I\u2019d just cry because I don\u2019t know what else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

April Ford<\/div>
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\"A

Inspirational messages are written on index cards and scraps of paper cover a vision board in April Ford’s kitchen in North Richland Hills. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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Chapter 7 Vs.\u00a0Chapter 13<\/h4>\n

Ford isn’t\u00a0alone.<\/p>\n

Between April and June of this year, more than 200,000 Americans filed for bankruptcy \u2014 either Chapter 7<\/a> or Chapter 13<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of those 200,000 Americans, 2,700 filed in the Northern District of Texas, where Barbara Houser<\/a> is chief bankruptcy judge. She explained the basics of Chapter 7 bankruptcy:<\/p>\n

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