The Circles Model

Empowering Communities: The Circles Initiative in Poverty Alleviation

Circles is a nationally-proven and innovative way of connecting people across socioeconomic lines in an effort to move individuals and families out of poverty.

Circles is not just another program to manage poverty. Circles is uniquely designed to reduce poverty by helping low-income individuals expand their social capital while bringing the community together in solidarity to reduce the barriers to keeping people in poverty.

How It Works

A Circle is made up of a Circle Leader (individual or family moving out of poverty) and 2-3 Circle Allies (middle or upper-income volunteers) who come alongside the Circle Leader to support them in achieving their goals.

Prior to forming a Matched Circle group, all potential Circle Leaders and Allies complete multi-week training that prepares them for the Circles process.
Circle Leaders learn about goal setting, personal finance, the trauma of poverty, cross-class and intercultural relationship development, conflict management, and workplace communication skills.
Allies focus on increasing their Poverty IQ, with topics to illuminate systemic barriers, the correlation between poverty and race, gender, and trauma, and the differences between generational and situational poverty.
After successfully completing training, Circle Leaders are matched with their Allies and begin meeting weekly for social support, skill development, goal progress monitoring, and community building.
This continues for a minimum of 18 months.

Circle Leaders

Participants are called Circle Leaders because they are the ones who lead themselves out of poverty. Prior to starting the Circles program, Circle Leaders receive training to learn about:

Time and money management
Job opportunities
Improving communication skills
Goal Setting

This training will prepare them for the Circles process. After successfully completing training, they will be paired with 2-3 Allies who walk alongside them during their journey out of poverty. Their Allies are there to be their biggest supporters as they work to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.

At Circles, participants also will have access to a large network of resources, including dedicated volunteer teams to help prepare them and connect them to resources for employment, job skill development, education, social services, and more.

The Circles process is a minimum of 18 months and is designed to help participants:

Become financially stable
Share their story and be understood
Use their gifts and skills
Improve communication and time management
Be recognized and respected for who they are
Have a bigger voice in their community
Become strong role models for their kids
Set goals, make progress, and achieve results

The Circles program includes weekly gatherings where a meal and childcare are provided.

Apply to be a Circle Leader

Allies

A Circle Ally is a person who volunteers to play an active role in supporting a Circle Leader’s commitment to climb out of poverty and achieve his or her goals. Your job as an Ally is to come alongside a Circle Leader and build an intentional friendship and support system. Prior to starting the Circles program, you will receive training to help increase your understanding of poverty in our community and learn how to be an effective ally.

This training will prepare you for the Circles process. After successfully completing training, you and 1-2 other Allies will be paired with a Circle Leader. It is your job to be the Circle Leader’s biggest supporter as they work to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.

You won’t be doing this alone. At Circles, there is a large community of volunteers and resources to help you and the Circle Leaders in your journeys together. You will have the opportunity to gain new perspectives and experiences of your community and work for broader community change in the effort to reduce poverty.

Become an Ally

Resource Teams

Resource Teams are an opportunity to use your skills and areas of expertise to impact the community and help Circle Leaders in their journeys out of poverty.
Do you have skills in resume writing or interviewing? Do you have connections in academic advising or experience with the college admissions process? Do you want to engage with policymakers, city leaders, and other key influencers to work toward tangible system change? Do you enjoy working with kids or making meals?

Put your skills to use to reduce poverty in our community!

Service Team is formed to help identify community services to support Circle Leaders in achieving their plans.

Community Team is established to help manage physical meeting spaces, secure donated meals, organize childcare and programming, and assist the Circles Coach, as needed.

Recruitment Team is organized to recruit and enroll Circle Leaders, Allies, and other volunteers.

Jobs and Education Teams assists Circle Leaders in identifying existing jobs and educational pathways and placement programs.

Big View Teams is established to identify and address community-wide barriers to self-sufficiency, as people transition off subsidies into the workforce.

Join a Resource Team