Seeking to break the cycle of poverty

The Mooresville Christian Mission’s Circles Program is proving to be an effective way to end the cycle of poverty for area residents.

Valerie Chamberlain, executive director of the Mission, said she began looking for a program last year that would fit what she had already discovered.

“I found that clients who are struggling with poverty, whether it be generational or situational, need a support system and someone who believes in them, helping them figure out all the rules to making it out of poverty,” said Chamberlain.

“They need someone to be their cheerleader and to stick with them through the highs and lows. I started noticing that the clients we were able to pair with mentors were the ones that were starting to be successful at making it out of poverty.”

The problem that Chamberlain ran into was at the time of this revelation, there were only seven staff members at the Mission and more than 3,000 client families.

“It’s impossible to develop a close one-on-one relationship with each one, as much as we’d like to,” she said. “We have to look to the community to engage and help us. We always have plenty of volunteers, but weren’t sure how we could use them as effectively as we wanted. I started doing research and trying to find a program that would do what I knew would work.”

While searching for a program the Mission could institute, Chamberlain found Dr. Ruby Payne’s “Bridges Out of Poverty” program and traveled to Arizona to learn more about it and become certified.

“ ‘Bridges Out of Poverty’ is a program that closes the gap between middle and upper income families and families living at or below the poverty line,” she said. “It also stops some of the assumptions that are often made about how people slip into or stay in poverty. I hear ‘well, they just need to get a job.’ The poverty line for a family of four is $22,600. That means you have to get a job paying $10.63 just to be at the poverty line, and we all know most entry-level jobs in Mooresville don’t start out at that pay.”

After learning more about “Bridges Out of Poverty,” the Mission began the Lake Norman Circles Initiative, which pairs Allies, or mentors from the community, with Circle Leaders, or the families that are coming out of poverty. Circles is a national campaign based off the same principles as ‘Bridges Out of Poverty’ to end poverty, with more than 60 Initiatives in 23 states.

According to the national campaign, Circles developed a “theory of change and a practical framework for increasing low-income people’s income and assets, and for reducing their debt and need for public assistance. Low-income families enrolled in Circles for 18 months have increased their income by 48 percent, their assets increased by 115 percent and their welfare benefits were reduced by 36 percent. A study of the first Circles pilot by Iowa State University showed that for every dollar invested in Circles, there was a 2-1 return on welfare savings and 4-1 return on new earned income.”

“Allies help Circle Leaders do things like find rental properties they can afford, show them resources in the community they can use, find tutors for their children if they’re struggling in school and are a vital support system,” Chamberlain said.

According to www.nccp.org , In North Carolina alone, there are 2,227,476 children being raised in poverty. The estimated economic fallout of raising children in poverty for the state is $72.1 billion a year. In Iredell County, the child poverty rate is 10.1 percent. In Mooresville, the child poverty rate 7.6 percent with 412 children living in poverty in 2009.

Currently, the program has 25 Allies and 9 active Circles Leaders. Both the Allies and Leaders must go through a series of classes and after completion, Leaders get matched up with their Allies. The group meets on Wednesdays at the MCM for lunch to get advice or ask questions.

“When determining who would be in our first set of classes, we looked for people who really had a fire in their heart to get to a better place,” said Chamberlain. “Now that we have one group under our belts, the Leaders we have are screening who will be future Leaders. It’s a remarkable program and has such a wide variety of people, from former middle class families who fell into poverty to people who are suffering from generational poverty and want to break the cycle.”

One Circles Leader, Jill (last name excluded), said she grew up in a middle-class family and went to college, but ran into trouble after she was married and had her daughter, Rachel.

“I ended up in an abusive marriage and left when my daughter was 14 months old,” Jill said. “I left with whatever I could carry and moved to North Carolina.”

After struggling to pay her bills due to her daughter’s health problems, Jill turned to the MCM when she had merely $8 left in her pocket. She said she felt “awkward” using the MCM at first, but said that taking the Circles classes made her feel like “we were all in this together” and that “I can succeed.”

Jill was able to find a job at a local church and stated that it “helped her spirit” to have a job again.

“Poverty might be a part of my past, but it doesn’t have to be a part of my future,” she said.

Antoinette, another Circles Leader, grew up “neglected, abused and without guidance.” She, too, ended up in an abusive relationship and came to Mooresville looking for a way out. Antoinette was able to get a job, but it wasn’t enough to cover her and her children’s expenses.

“I made enough to pay for the rent, but we had to sleep on the floor,” she said. “I told the children that I knew we were suffering, but we would suffer together and make it out the other side.”

After discovering the Mission, Antoinette said she didn’t know where she would be without them.

“They are genuine people that really care,” she said. “The Mooresville Christian Mission is God’s gift to me. After taking the (Circles) classes, I know I don’t have to stay in poverty. I don’t have to be where I came from.”

Antoinette now works two jobs, but her family is thriving.

“Our end goal is for Leaders to become Allies,” said Chamberlain. “One of our Leaders, Gloria, now facilitates our “Get Ahead’ class for the program. All of our Leaders must also give back and volunteer as part of the initiative, because the community gave to them.”

The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $1.4 million control group study of Circles to North Carolina partners to support 200 young families out of poverty. Pilots are being developed with funding and coordination from local affiliates of Goodwill Industries, Catholic Charities, the Episcopal Church, Lutheran Social Services, Community Action Partnership and United Ways.

Classes are free for Leaders and Allies, but the program costs $150,000 to run.

“This is one program I will never give up, because it works and is successful,” Chamberlain said. “That money pays for the staff, meals for meetings and occasional crisis assistance. However, it costs much less for the program than it does to pay for government benefits and constant crisis assistance, so we consider it a short-term investment. We’re raising the money any way we can, and a lot of our end-of-the-year campaign and profits from the Give Back boutique will go to pay for the program.”

For members of the community who are interested in participating as a Leader or Ally, go to the MCM website at http://www.mooresvillechristianmission.org/ or email volunteer@mooresvillechristianmission.org.