Move 10 Families Out of Poverty in Pitcairn

Hi Friends of Circles.

We have some news to report on both our Pitcairn and our McKeesport sites.

Pitcairn is being very intentional in trying to restart some areas of staleness in our local program. This includes retraining our Allies, recruiting new Guiding Coalition (board) members and retraining them, and reenrolling Circle Leaders (low-income folks) who have motivation to continue to work through the challenges of becoming more stable. It is an exciting and necessary time in any program, when "same as usual" is not enough. Retooling and adapting will keep us moving forward in this Circles site.

In the meantime, with the support of grants from the Heinz Endowments and the United Methodist Church, we were able to begin expansion to McKeesport, a much larger city with the same kinds of economic difficulties as Pitcairn, but on a larger scale.

We have had a Town Hall Meeting which was very well attended by the Mayor, the Police Chief, the School Superintendent, some business owners, parents, and faith-based participants from the community. We have begun Ally Training and expect to begin recruiting our first class of Circle Leaders before the summer begins.

See article about McKeesport expansion. 

Additionally, the Heinz Endowments have become more interested in the Circles model as other communities are initiating Circles sites as well. We are in discussion with the founder of Circles to take Circles to scale throughout Allegheny County through various strategic partnerships.

We are developing ways to make an even bigger impact on poverty throughout our area. Someday, I hope to see a headline that reads, "Poverty in Allegheny County, the Lowest in Decades" or "Poverty in Allegheny County the Lowest in the Country." We are poised to be a model for the rest of the state and rest of the country to follow in this battle to eliminate poverty.

Thanks for all of your contributions and your prayers as we continue this important work.

We are still in need of funding for current programming and for our new developments. Your continued gifts will help overcome barriers, which will enable low-income individuals to achieve goals of getting education or meaningful jobs.

If you know of someone who is interested in this work, would like to serve on the board, would like to serve as an Ally, or would like to be one of our "angel donors," please pass this information on to them or pass their names off to us through this email.

Thank you for all you do!

Blessings! Cyndi

Links:

• McKeesport Expansion Town Hall