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Effort helps people lift themselves from poverty
by Jule Hubbard
The founder of the national Circles Campaign, a strategy that helps low-income families or individuals partner with volunteers to pull themselves out of poverty, was in Wilkes County on Friday to help launch it here.
Scott C. Miller, author of "Until It's Gone, Ending Poverty in Our Nation, In Our Lifetime," explained how Circles helps people build relationships across class lines as they try to end poverty in their communities.
Speaking in three sessions at the Kulynych Family Life Center in Wilkesboro, Miller discussed the mindset and root causes of poverty. In all three sessions combined, about 135 people attended.
Miller is from Iowa, where he co-founded and serves as chief executive officer of the Move the Mountain (MTM) Leadership Center. He set a goal of eliminating poverty in the United States moving by establishing a nationwide network of Move the Mountain centers.
He said each “circle” consists of a low income family or individual striving to become self sufficient called the circle “leader” and two to five volunteers, called “allies.”
Miller said allies maintain friendships with circle leaders and provide them with support instead of advice. Circle leaders set their own goals and circle allies provide them support. “This is not a handout program. The values we promote are reciprocity – giving back.”
In Circles training, allies and circle leaders both learn “hidden rules of class,” which are unspoken cues and habits of different economic classes. Learning hidden rules of those in poverty, middle class, and wealth helps circle leaders gain new relationships, new jobs and greater access to resources.
Allies also learn about the nature of poverty and community planning tools to address it, as well as the mindset of low-income people and challenges they face. Circle leaders and allies research causes of poverty in their community during their training.
The training curriculum for allies, beginning with a four-hour training session, is called “Bridges Out of Poverty.” It uses a book based on Dr. Ruby Payne’s book, with the same name, which focused on understanding poverty.
Participants are also encouraged to read a book co-authored by Mrs. Payne and the Rev. Bill Ehlig,, “What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty.” The next step is to read, “Until It’s Gone,” a detailed description of the Circles Campaign.
Circle leaders are paid a stipend while participating in “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting By World” training. There are 13 sessions, each about 2½ hours long.
In “Weekly Community Meetings,” circle leaders, allies and other interested community members gather to provide support and share information. In monthly “Big View Meetings,” community and system barriers and other causes of poverty in a community are addressed.
Miller said a lead agency is designated to be responsible for staffing, operational oversight and for contributing resources to each Circles initiative. Grants will be sought for the Circles Campaign in Wilkes.
A spokesman for the “Circles of Care” steering committee, established in Wilkes about eight months ago, said the goal is to have at least 20 low-income families in Wilkes involved. Criteria for eligibility are still being discussed. About 200 Wilkes residents, with many of them representing churches, have indicated interest in serving as allies.
Steering committee members are Dave and Fran Evans, Jean and Fred Graf, the Rev. Lawson Horton, the Rev. Paul Hugger, the Rev. Heather Kilbourne, Derek and Tina Krause, John and Sherry Mabry, Marty Moore, Paulette Norman, Annette Snider, Rick Stegall, Susan Whittington and Lance Ben Yusrael. Among these are representatives of United Way of Wilkes, Wilkes Vision 20/20, Wilkes Regional Medical Center, the Brushy Mountain Baptist Association and churches.
The local effort for a Circles initiative in Wilkes began from a forum sponsored by the Wilkes Healthy Carolinians Council Coalition on poverty, with Annette Snider as featured speaker, on March 13, 2008. At the conclusion of the forum, Susan Whittington asked, “What is a caring community to do?” This led to discussions and three local Bridges Out of Poverty workshops – one each in May, November, and January.
The next workshop, focusing on the basics of poverty, is March 19, from 5:00-9:30 p.m. at the Stone Family Center for Performing Arts on Cherry Street, North Wilkesboro. This workshop will utilize “What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty.”
The General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church (UMC) provided about $10,000 to cover the cost of Miller’s visit last week to Wilkes, Yadkin and Anson counties and for printed Circles material, said the Rev. Dr. Alan Rice, director of Rural Ministry and Community Development for the Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC and former director of the North Wilkesboro District of the UMC.
Rice said Circles initiatives in Wilkes, Yadkin and Anson are to become models for the United Methodist Church nationally, as well as training centers for people elsewhere in the southeastern United States who want to start Circles in their communities. Rice and Jerald McKie, associate general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries of the UMC, were present when Miller spoke here Friday.
“Move the Mountain” (MTM) was established in 1992 with a decade of funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to investigate how to help people out of poverty and become economically self-sufficient. For the first several years, MTM facilitated strategic planning for schools, social services, and government programs and raised resources to test innovative approaches.
After identifying and testing best practice approaches from across the country, MTM developed the Circles approach to improve outcomes (including education, self-sufficiency and health) by matching a team of middle and upper income families with families at risk. Early results with welfare recipients showed that for every dollar invested in Circles, $2 were saved in public benefits, and $4 of new earned income were generated by the targeted families.
MTM now has a network of 40 communities in 18 states testing the Circles approach to help 1,000 families out of poverty. Research is being conducted by the Wilder Research Group based in St. Paul, Minn.
The National Circles Campaign is led by a National Guiding Coalition comprised of people living in poverty, experts in the anti-poverty field, minorities and people from nationally recognized anti-poverty organizations that include Move the Mountain Leadership Center, aha! Process Inc., Wider Opportunities for Women, the Charitable Giving Resource Center and the Wilder Research Center.
For more information about the printed materials or involvement in the Wilkes-Yadkin Circles Campaign, contact the Rev. Paul Hugger at 651-8130 or phugger@wilkesregional.com. |
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