Circles
The new year is upon us, and with it comes great news for our neighborhood. Heart of the Westside has partnered with The Fairbanks to bring the Circles program to our area! Circles is a program designed to lift people out of poverty and focuses on conquering what’s known as the “cliff effect,” also known as the “welfare trap.” The cliff effect occurs when assistance programs like child care subsides and programs like Medicaid and food stamps remove benefits faster than people can earn enough income to replace them. By not pro-rating the exit ramp to these programs, the government creates a financial crisis for people as they earn more income. We believe no one should live in poverty. Families and communities can take charge of their destinies. And if given the right tools and support, economic stability can be achieved.
Circles creates an environment that educates, empowers and equips members to move up and out of poverty successfully. Circles recognizes that there are systemic barriers to escaping poverty, which is why they partner with and educate local and national policy makers. They help them understand the issues faced by families striving to move out of poverty. They advocate for changes in policy that eliminate the negative “cliff effects” in favor of the gradual reduction of the assistance programs, throughout the entire journey out of poverty and to an economically sustainable future. The Fairbanks discovered that in order to solve the issue of poverty, they had to approach things in a very different way. The solution doesn’t have to be complicated, but it has to be personal. In order to make a real change, poverty has to be addressed using a multi-dimensional method.
Here’s how it works:
- Community leaders and/or organizations work with Circles to establish a local chapter here in Heart of the Westside.
- This begins with localized training. We take a collaborative approach during implementation by building on the strengths of existing community-based organizations.
- Our model focuses on three stages:
- Crisis management and stabilization
- Education, job placement and job retention
- Advancement and economic stability
- Heart of the Westside sponsors groups of up to 25 participants who are known as Circles leaders. They are asked to:
- Enroll in the Circles leadership training class to build financial, emotional and social resources as well as an economic stability plan.
- Partner with trained middle- to high-income community volunteers, called allies, who support a Circles leader’s efforts through networking, listening and guidance.
- Attend weekly community meetings with peers, allies and other interested community members for planning, support and networking opportunities.
- Attend monthly “big view” meetings, which include community discussions around systemic barriers to escaping poverty and the strategies needed to remove them.
Anyone who would like more information, please email: heartofthewestside@gmail.com. I personally have been through this class myself and found it very beneficial and highly recommend it to those who are tired of being poor and want a better quality of life.
Neighborhood Clean Up
The neighborhood clean up will be 8 a.m.-noon March 7 at Nichols Park. Last year, we hauled off 15 tons of trash, serviced 65 households and provided 15 curbside pickups for the disabled and elderly.
I encourage everyone to make use of the clean up for your spring cleaning! The clean ups are is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. Please sign in so we can show the need of the clean up program and verify how many we served. If you have items that are still good and usable and prefer to donate them rather than throw them away, we will come pick them up.
Heart of the Westside is now on the Nextdoor website. Nextdoor is a great form of communication and an easy way to find out what’s going on in the neighborhood and surrounding areas. A wide variety of topics are discussed – from “I found a lost dog” to “did anybody else hear gun shots?” About 100 Heart of the Westside people have joined so far. Sign up today so you can stay in the know about your neighborhood.
Partnership with CPO
In addition to the Northwest Project and The Fairbanks, Heart of the Westside is partnering with other organizations to offer more resources to our neighborhood.
We are working on bringing in more alternatives for drug and alcohol recovery and treatment. Nobody likes to talk about that but it is all around us. I believe addiction is a disease, not a crime, and not enough is being done to help the people who want treatment. Substance abuse disorders affect nearly everyone in America, whether directly or in directly. It’s estimated that alcohol misuse costs the U.S. $249 billion a year, with illicit drug use and abuse running another $193 billion each year. Despite that toll, substance abuse disorders haven’t been given the same weight as other widespread health issues. Addiction is not a moral failing, or evidence of a character flaw, but a chronic disease of the brain that deserves our compassion and care. This needs to be addressed with medicine and counseling, not with imprisonment.
Doctors, social workers, recovery specialists, nutritionist and a variety of others need to pull together and treat this like they would any other disease just like cancer or diabetes. I am advocating for help and welcome others to do the same. The task may seem daunting, as substance abuse and violence can negatively affect one’s life in many ways, such as:
- reducing the chances of having success in school
- delaying the development of the social and emotional skills needed to establish and maintain healthy relationships
- detrimentally impacting both physical and mental health
- hindering one from being a productive member of society
However, working together with hundreds of like-minded volunteers and organizations across a 21-county service area in southwest Missouri, Community Partnership of the Ozarks is not only helping communities take a stand against substance abuse and violence, but also helping them create an environment where youth and adults have greater opportunities to reach their full potential in life.
While CPO’s Substance Abuse & Violence Prevention (SAVP) division has a rich history of implementing and collaborating on successful substance abuse and violence-prevention initiatives through various grants, contracts, and other projects, most of the division’s current prevention efforts fall under the Regional Support Center and SPIRIT programs. The Ozarks Fighting Back Advisory Board (OFB) provides oversight and support to all SAVP programs.
The SAVP division helps communities stay focused and moving towards their prevention goals by investing time and effort into utilizing the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). This framework utilizes a five-step process that helps move towards a vision of communities free of consequences from substance abuse and violence. I hope to make use of these resources and many more to improve our neighborhood.
Have a happy New Year.
Tammy Haynes is the president of the Heart of the Westside Neighborhood Association. Email her at heartofthewestside@gmail.com.