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Circles® of Hope offers the opportunity for persons in poverty to develop a personal life plan by being part of a supportive Circle. The Anson County Circles of Hope program began in April 2009 with a county-wide workshop for people interested in looking more closely at the issue of poverty in the county. A training workshop, using the workbook "Bridges Out of Poverty," was held in June. From this came a Guiding Coalition that planned the first "Getting Ahead™ in a Just-Gettin'-by World" class. Local churches, clubs, organizations and restaurants were recruited to cook and serve a weekly meal or provde child care.
This first class of 15 "Investigators" began meeting in September 2009 and graduated April 8, 2010. Of these graduates, eight stayed on to become Circle Leaders. Allies were recruited and trained to work with the Circle Leaders, and a second "Getting Ahead" class started in July 2010.
Those entering the program are committed to 20 weeks of classes and a further 18 months working with their allies to implement and follow their own plan for getting out of poverty.
Follow the links on the left to read more about the Circles Program and why it works.
The costs of poverty
$500 billion is spent annually to raise children in poverty, or $38,000 per child. If we raise one family with two children from poverty, we save $75,000 a year.
$5,500 is what it takes to train an employee. Businesses that invested in Circles training saw their turnover costs improve by 95%. One company invested in childcare and transportation -- two of the most common needs for people in poverty -- for its employees and saw a significant drop in lost hours, saving the company more money than was spent.
The program is spreading because it works. Reports show that for every $1 spent on the program, $2 in welfare and food stamp subsidies was returned to the state, and $4 to the community as new earned income.
In the most recent analysis, the first group of 33 families to complete Getting Ahead and six months of Circles showed an 88% increase in earned income, 54% of the Circle Leaders indicated that they had obtained a better paying job, a 30% decrease in use of welfare benefits and a 56% increase in assets. The median income rose from $637/month to $1200, average assets went from $604 to $941, and welfare benefits dropped from $436/month to $306/month.
Moreover, there was a 125% increase in “people in my life I can count on” and the average number of “friends I can count on” went from four to nine (www.movethemountain.org).
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