Tackling Poverty in Albany One Family at a Time
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
In February, the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce trained 70 volunteers in what it takes to help families move from poverty to self-sufficiency. The effort is part of the Chamber’s Strive2Thrive initiative, which aims to move 100 Albany-Dougherty families toward self-sufficiency in 2010.
Volunteers become Allies to low-income families who have made a commitment to complete training, set goals and actively work toward self-sufficiency. Volunteers will receive additional training in March before work begins with the first 10 Strive2Thrive families.
“Our goal is to get the community involved in tackling poverty one family at a time. We want to affect change at the lowest level,” said Harriet Hollis, Workforce Development Director and Strive2Thrive Coordinator for the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.
Heeding a call to action
Poverty is a well-documented issue in Albany-Dougherty County. Based on 2000 Census data, 25 percent of individuals and 39 percent of families in Albany-Dougherty County live in poverty. In addition, 73 percent of families in poverty have five or more children. When Forbes.com named the area to its list of “America’s Most Impoverished Cities,” it was a call to action for many in the community, according to Hollis.
“Community leaders agreed to be members of our Strive2Thrive committee and we had more than 200 attendees at our community-wide meeting in December,” Hollis reported.
Following a proven approach
Strive2Thrive follows the principles of the Circles Campaign, a model for helping families out of poverty that was developed by the Move the Mountain Leadership Center. Move the Mountain is a nonprofit organization that has worked for more than 17 years with leaders in more than 75 communities in 27 states on how to engage the public to find a solution to end poverty.
Elements of the Circles™ model were first introduced in 1995 and have evolved through years of development. Circles™ matches two or more middle- and upper-income volunteers or Allies to a family who is ready to get out of poverty. Allies provide friendship, coaching and networking to help families achieve their self-sufficiency goals. Families are called Circle Leaders and must sign an agreement, set short- and long-term goals and commit to take action steps to become economically stable. The program also requires adults to focus on their goals in weekly meetings that include a free meal and free child development services.
Move the Mountain published in January the following results for families in Circles™ for six months: 88 percent increase in earned income, 30 percent decrease in the use of welfare benefits, 56 percent increase in assets and 125 percent increase in “people in my life I can count on.”
Engaging the community
The Chamber is working with other community organizations on Strive2Thrive. According to Hollis, business and public administration students at Albany State University will record and analyze data on the program’s impact, AmeriCorps volunteers from United Way of Southwest Georgia have been committed to help with grant-writing to secure funds and local churches have agreed to provide meeting places and meals for the program.
“People tend to think of poverty as someone else’s problem, but finding a solution to poverty is really everyone’s responsibility. That mindset is behind the entire approach of Strive2Thrive,” Hollis said.
According to Hollis, achieving greater economic stability for Albany by moving families out of poverty benefits residents, businesses, and the community as a whole. It can help build a more skilled workforce, attract new businesses to the area and drive greater economic development. The positive cycle begins with one family and one circle of Allies.
Local businesses can provide funding and employee volunteers for the Strive2Thrive initiative. To learn more, visit the Chamber at http://www.albanyga.com/strive.html or contact Harriet Hollis at [email protected]
