Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Power of Half

SLUG: Power of Half

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In 2006, 14-year old Hannah Salwen and her dad were stopped at a traffic light in downtown Atlanta. She looked out the car window.

I looked to my left and I saw this homeless man sitting on the sidewalk, holding up a sign that said, “please help.” And then on my right I saw a man in a Mercedes. And I kind of toggled back between the halves and the have nots and I said to my dad it that guy to my right, the man in the Mercedes, didn’t have such a nice car, the man, the homeless man would have a meal.

That night at dinner, Hannah was still angry at the world’s inequities. Her dad, a writer and entrepreneur, tried to explain that their family was really trying to make a difference. But Hannah would have none of it:

I said I don’t want to be a family that talks about doing something. I want really got out there and I want to make a difference. And my mom, kind of in a fit of frustration, said, “Ok, what do you want to do? Do you want to sell the house? And I said, yeah, yeah that is what I want to do.

So they decided to sell their house and move into one half its size and donate half the sales price to charity.

Now, their old house, according to Hannah’s dad, Kevin, was one of the grandest in Ansley Park.

It was set back from the street. Had these two story Corinthian columns, wrap around porches, a beautiful original tile roof.

To Hannah it was the perfect tool for her charitable work. But Kevin wasn’t convinced, until he started to think about all his belongings.

I recognized that we had more house than we need, more stuff than we need. I also realized, that, hey, this could be fun. It was kind of a little bit of journey into the unknown.
Since everyone had to give up something–furniture, toys, electronics, books - Hannah’s mom, Joan, thought each ought to have an equal say in giving away the proceeds from the house sale. It would be one person, one vote. Hannah was delighted.

It felt really good to know that if we had something to say that my parents would be listening, and that they would actually take it into consideration and not just say, Okay they don’t know what they're talking about because, whatever.

It took about a year to decide what group the Salwens were going to support. On Sunday mornings, they’d meet over bagels to discuss the projects. Finally they chose the Hunger Project: its philosophy matched their family’s thinking.

What we loved about the Hunger Project was that their methodology was we trust in the people in these communities to build their own futures.

The 800-thousand dollars from the house sale is helping 2 villages in Ghana. Hannah doesn’t miss the old house. It was more than she needed.

She and her dad have written a book – the Power of Half – that they hope will inspire others.

… obviously not many people are going to sell their house but there are so many things, so many opportunities that you can be a part of.

If your family watches four hours of TV a week you could cut that down to two and use those 2 hours in a homeless shelter.

The Salwens are adjusting to their smaller house in Ansley Park. There’s no longer a separate room for the ping pong table, and the dinner table doubles as a computer work station.

But, still, Kevin thinks they got a great deal.

I think we're a family that honestly set out to do a little bit of good. And we are doing a little bit of good, but the good we did for ourselves I think dwarfs the good for mankind.

And that is the power of half.

I’m Philip Graitcer

OUTRO: Hannah and Kevin Salwen will be reading from their book: The Power of Half, Wednesday night at Barnes and Noble in Buckhead.

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