Debtors Anonymous - Parallel Organizations

Parallel Organizations

Debtors Anonymous groups, independent of those all ready meeting in New York, were formed in the late 1970s by the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in New York City. They began as a group of 37 participants who had attended credit education classes at the NCNW offices. The NCNW Debtors Anonymous members had four goals: (1) Develop individual budgets and report regularly at group meetings on progress and problems; (2) Select and work with a buddy for mutual support and as a safeguard against spending urges; (3) Educate themselves and fellow members about credit costs, consumer protection laws, and the best prices of goods and services; (4) Set long-term goals and stick with them. Meetings were designed to share information on where to get common products at the best price (clothes, home furnishings, small appliances, food, etc.). Group sharing would usually begin after a member gave a short presentation on a topic she had researched for the meeting. Additional groups were formed supported with grants from Chase Manhattan Bank and the United States Department of Education's consumer education unit. As of 1981 there were chapters in nine major US cities.

In response to the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico an anti-government organization naming itself the National Association of Debtors Anonymous formed. Later, this group merged with El Barzón (a movement of land-owning farmers against the Mexican government).