PBS program aims to help people get through recession

By Nicole Lucht

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 | 2 a.m.

This column is brought to you by the letters P, B and S and the number 10.

Vegas PBS has created a 13-episode series, “Recession Rx,” to offer advice and assistance to viewers of the public television channel.

This week’s episode focuses on the state’s foreclosure information workbook, helpline 2-1-1, and mortgage scams. There will also be a personal story of an unemployed man coping with the recession while trying to find job.

Executive Producer Cathy Hanson hosts the half-hour show, formatted more like a news program than a documentary. Hanson was executive producer and host of “Caucus Countdown” and “Capitol Issues” on Vegas PBS.

Reporter Jay Jones is contributing, she said.

The basic formula for the episodes will be homeownership, health, jobs and life in general, she said.

“I’m excited about this because it’s a way to connect with our community on many levels,” Hanson said. “(But) this isn’t all about making it depressing.”

A Web site, linked through VegasPBS.org, makes it easy for viewers to find more information. The show will also be available on social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

“When we send someone somewhere, we’re sending them somewhere valuable,” she said.

The focus of “Recession Rx” is to provide a “prescription for getting through these times.”

Small-business owners, too, can benefit from watching the show, which will tackle workplace issues, she said.

“What if you’re a business owner and you have to lay people off? How do you do that?” she said.

Even Hanson, a visiting professor at UNLV since 2004, was laid off last year.

“I think we’re all touched by this,” Hanson said. “We wanted a way to cut through the clutter.”

Topics span foreclosures and mortgages to health care to unemployment, jobs searches and training.

The program will take a look at resources for combating common social effects of a recession, such as depression, suicide, spousal abuse, substance abuse, other mental health problems and family living transitions. The program will also take a look at some positive happenings in the recession, featuring success stories of people who persevered in a time of personal crisis.

“We need to educate ourselves about how to navigate through current financial hardships and decisions,” Vegas PBS General Manager Tom Axtell said in a statement. “The creation of ‘Recession Rx’ was the direct result of so many within Southern Nevada being affected by the current economic downturn.”

United Way of Southern Nevada, KNPR 88.9-FM, HELP of Southern Nevada, Consumer Credit Counseling, Legal Aid and United Labor Agency of Nevada contributed to the development of the series.

A version of this story appeared in this week’s In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Las Vegas Sun.