By Patricia Jones, Alliance Poverty Task Force
The Alliance Poverty Task Force has been working with the Bridges Out of Poverty program, developed by Ruby Payne at the aha!Process. The Bridges Out of Poverty materials look at economic class issues through the triple lens of individuals, institutions, and communities.
Bridges Out of Poverty is a national program series designed to help a community understand, alleviate, and work with those in poverty. Bridges believes that organizations and communities who want to reduce poverty must first understand the mindset of the people they serve. The ultimate goal is to increase the likelihood of moving from welfare to work, especially for those living in generational poverty, families who have lived in poverty for at least two generations.
Last June we hosted Jodi Pharr, who talked about the Individual Lens, an introduction to poverty. Poverty is defined as the extent to which a person does without resources. Participants reviewed poverty research, and analyzed poverty through the prism of the hidden rules of class, resources, family structure, and language.
Poverty has many causes and may be situational, where a significant event has forced the household to lose their resources. Or it may be generational, where the household has little income and few resources, so they feel they have no choices and no power. We cannot blame the victims of poverty for being in poverty. Economic systems are beyond their control.
We learned about economic classes and hidden rules. The driving forces for families in poverty are survival, relationships, and entertainment. In middle class the focus is on work, achievement, and material security. People in wealth are most focused on their connections.
ESU 13 offered a Day 2 program designed for teachers. They learned how to apply concrete instructional strategies to help students from poverty, understand hidden rules of economic class and effects on behaviors and mindsets, and develop stronger relationships with students to impact behavior.
After Bridges Out of Poverty: Part 1, Individual Lens, people were excited about what they had learned. The only concern was that they didn’t know how to apply it – what’s the next step? That is what was covered in Bridges: Institutional Lens.
In October, we met at WNCC in Scottsbluff for Bridges Out of Poverty: Institutional Lens, with presenter Jim Ott. The focus was on our agencies and institutions and the walls they were hitting when trying to meet the needs of those in poverty. We looked at strategies for changing both our agencies and the people they work with. What was learned in Bridges Out of Poverty: Individual Lens was applied to program designs, policies, and procedures.
On June 9, the Alliance Poverty Task Force will again be hosting a Bridges Out of Poverty program at the Alliance High School commons area. Bridges: Community Lens will involve
community sectors in planning how to better meet the needs of those in poverty. This workshop is open to the general public and perfect for community organizers, elected officials, concerned citizens, nonprofit staff, mental health providers, educators and school counselors, those working in the health and human service industry, frontline employees, and more!
Next week’s column will share specific topics to be covered and registration information.