GETTING AHEAD COMMUNITY
TELL US YOUR STORY:
OR WRITE TO US:
OUR FUTURE STORY
Getting Ahead Community
"The Call to Action" for a Getting Ahead Community Challenges Every Concerned Citizen to:
-
Develop shared understanding with professionals using Bridges Out of Poverty training.
-
Develop shared understanding with people in poverty using Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World.
-
Provide continuous support for people in poverty through monthly networking meetings.
-
Address the financial vulnerability of people in poverty using financial management classes.
-
Assist people in poverty in getting and keeping jobs through the Future Story Project.
-
Encourage and equip people in poverty to provide effective input and take on leadership roles.
-
Close the social, as well as the economic, divide by equipping and encouraging middle-class stakeholders to be allies who make poverty a key issue for their families, organizations, workplaces, and political representatives.
-
Address systemic changes by bringing to the table community leaders who can link ending poverty to economic development goals.
Bonnie Bazata, Carroll Clark, Beth Clark-Thomas, Ph.D., Elain Ellerbe, Teresa A. Johnson, Ed.D.,R. H. Nicholson, Jim Ott, Jacalyn Reynolds, Michael Saccocio, Ermina Soler, Lisa Stoddard, Carol Taylor, Kellie Valenti, Nancy Varian, Ph.D., (2012); FROM VISION ACTION TO Best practices to reduce the impact of poverty in communities, education, healthcare, and more.
Getting Ahead in the Workplace
Benefits for Employers: In addition to gaining greater productivity, retention, and advancement of their employees: Supervisors and human resource managers report that having a Working Bridges resource coordinator on site enables them to spend less of their time supporting employees on “life issues.”
Working Bridges employer partners stay abreast of ongoing workforce challenges by working together to share information on employee needs – and designing and testing innovative workplace practices to minimize work disruptions and improve financial stability of all employees. Employer partners work together to offer Ruby Paynes Bridges Out of Poverty training to their supervisors and managers, providing a framework for understanding the impact of economic class in the workplace.
A Brief Case Study: Rhino Foods, based in Burlington, is a founding member and leader of the Chittenden County Working Bridges program. After participating in a “Bridges Out of Poverty” training offered by United Way, they sought to bridge the communication gap between their managers and supervisors and the employees living at or below the poverty line. Rhino Foods report the following results:
• Employee turnover dropped from 37% to below 15% in three years.
• The Income Advance Loan program resulted in $236,000 in short-term loans to employees in the past five years. In addition to addressing various immediate needs, the program started many employees on a path of building credit and improving their financial stability.
Reference: https://www.unitedwayaddisoncounty.org/content/more-about-working-bridges
Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin by World
Many people in poverty face significant barriers to economic self-sufficiency, and every person’s barriers are different. People who are struggling to make ends meet and communities that want to ensure a good life and pass it on to the next generation are getting involved and creating impactful solutions through "Getting Ahead" models.
One of the main resources that helps people in poverty break the cycle is relationships, and some of the most important relationships people in poverty build are with people in the community who are already advocating for them, who are providing services, and who are supportive in other ways. However, creating relationships across economic class requires intention and understanding, and not everyone who works with and/or advocates for people in poverty has a deep understanding of economic class and the dynamics of poverty.
Not only are families being impacted, but schools are seeing results. We believe that we have developed a valuable model for professional development that has potential for great positive impact on teacher quality improvement—and thus positive student learning outcomes as evidenced by four years of project data. In districts considered at-risk (poverty, diversity, linguistic challenges, and exceptionalities), teachers overwhelmingly report changes in their attitude and practices as a result of this professional development model.
Bonnie Bazata, Carroll Clark, Beth Clark-Thomas, Ph.D., Elain Ellerbe, Teresa A. Johnson, Ed.D.,R. H. Nicholson, Jim Ott, Jacalyn Reynolds, Michael Saccocio, Ermina Soler, Lisa Stoddard, Carol Taylor, Kellie Valenti, Nancy Varian, Ph.D., (2012); FROM VISION ACTION TO Best practices to reduce the impact of poverty in communities, education, healthcare, and more.