Alittle bit of support can go a long way, and the Circles of Allen County program is learning that on almost every level. WHEN IN NEED AN OBVIOUS EFFECT “NOT THERE YET” To become involved with the Circles of Allen County program, contact Masterson at the Thrive Allen County office, 365-8128. She said help always is needed, whether it be food service, childcare, allies or simply someone who wants to get involved.
“Having someone else believe in you is incredibly important,” Circles representative Georgia Masterson said, sitting in her Thrive Allen County office.
“It’s very powerful,” Wanda Pumphrey, a regional trainer for the program, replied.
Pumphrey visited Allen County on Monday, in order to get a better idea of the issues the local program is facing, as well as what it is doing to succeed. There are stories of both.
Circles is a program meant to direct people out of poverty through education, resources and support. Those enrolled meet on a weekly basis over several months. The graduates then go on to work with community members — they’re called “allies” — to help promote themselves in the community.
“I’m here simply for support,” Pumphrey said. “Circles can be challenging and messy at times.”
Masterson is finding these things out firsthand.
She recently completed the first-ever session in southeast Kansas, and currently has 12 registered to start the next session — held up by there being no childcare providers. Every week during the meetings, the program provides a free meal and childcare from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays.
For the first session, Masterson said food was donated by various church groups and businesses; childcare was provided by volunteers in the community, as well as softball players from Allen Community College.
Masterson said there are too few volunteers to supervise the amount of children needed for the second session. So she is planning to hold off on the course until later in the school year, in hopes that students will be willing to volunteer for community service requirements.
“Circles is a highly volunteer-driven program, which is one of the positive things about it,” Pumphrey said, in addition to being a place where parents and their children can learn and socialize in the same place. “When you look around the community you don’t see many places like that.”
Masterson said she thinks enough contributions have been drummed up to feed 40 to 50 people signed up for the next session (including children and people from the first session), but the program can not operate without childcare providers. She said volunteers 16 years or older are needed to give a small amount of time to watch over children from 4 months to 15 years old.
“Feeding the masses is taken care of, caring for them is yet to be seen,” Masterson said.
While there are some issues, both women agreed that the program has seen some monumental success in its first six months, and they hope its influence will continue to grow.
Pumphrey, who operates the Circles program in Newton, said she did a little research on Allen County before coming to visit.
“It (the county) is close to 28 percent poverty for children,” Pumphrey said, and poverty can be a “toxic stressor” for developing minds; “it actually changes your brain.”
She said prolonged stresses under poverty can result in emotional issues, problems in school and affects how people regulate themselves. Those involved with Circles are doing their best to help people out. There are currently eight programs in Kansas, and Allen County is the first to branch into the southeast region. Pumphrey said Allen County’s problems are not unique. Masterson agreed.
“All of Allen County is an extremely giving community … but it’s already stretched,” Masterson said, particularly in the amount of time people can give.
Pumphrey emphasized her point.
“Sometimes it’s easier to reach into your pocketbook than to give your time,” she said.
“Beyond my expectations,” is how Masterson replied when looking back over the first Circles session. “The bonding together as a group is probably what I see as most valuable.”
She said participants, who are referred to as Circles leaders, and their allies alike have been affected by the program. They are all building off each other to enrich their lives, through perspective and education.
Pumphrey said the people helping receive nearly as much of a benefit.
“They (the allies) are meeting people that they never would have met before,” she said. “It’s the experience of being an encourager and a supporter.”
The trend is statewide, she said. All of the programs she has dealt with have seen some sort of positive effect. Wichita recently started a program, and the hope is to expand to many programs within the city in five to 10 years.
“It’s social capital, they now have a new connection in the community, as far as references and resources that they didn’t have before,” Pumphrey said.
She said based on research the organization has conducted across 21 active states, it sees improvements across the board including: an increase in income, decrease in use of public funds, an increase of assets and a decrease in debt overall.
Pumphrey and Masterson face obstacles every time their group convenes, and some are specific to the region.
For Allen County, there are obvious issues with housing, the job market and substance abuse. Masterson said every one of her Circles leaders has dealt with drug and/or alcohol abuse at some point. It’s a chicken and egg sort of problem, she said, not knowing which contributed to the other first — not to mention the public perception people in poverty must deal with on a daily basis.
“I think they (the impoverished) have an amazing ability to make the best of the situation they are given,” Masterson said. “Are they satisfied? I don’t think so, but they are incredibly resilient.”
Pumphrey said it was difficult to measure how happy these people are, but she did offer one example.
When they enter the program, the leaders are asked how many people they can rely on. She said oftentimes they say one, which may or may not include themselves.
When they leave, however, they do the same exercise. She said if they can list four, five or six, then the result has to say something. It may not measure happiness, but according to her and Masterson, it’s one heck of a change. That’s all that matters.
“Something I didn’t anticipate is how much they would change,” Pumphrey said. And maybe if more people took notice, they would, too.
“Your idea about poverty in general and in Allen County specifically will change,” she said.
