Circles of friends

One in eight Idaho children goes to bed hungry each night, according to the Bonner County Circles Guiding Coalition. In fact, with 29 percent of young adults living in poverty, Idaho leads the nation in child poverty, the group says.

With its new Circles Initiative, Sandpoint’s Community Action Partnership aims to help by giving poor children friends in higher places.

“It is an experiment in radical hospitality,” said Paul Graves, co-chairman of the group.

The program partners established members of the community with families struggling in poverty to create friendships and layers of support as the family works toward self-sufficiency.

The Move the Mountain Leadership Center, a component of Mid-Iowa Community Action, launched the program initially under the name Beyond Welfare. Now known as the Circles Initiative, 49 communities in 13 states are working with Move the Mountain to establish local programs, including Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene.

“Circles is a group of people who believe that all people need sufficient money, relationships and meaning in their lives to thrive,” said Nancy Gerth, Bonner County Guiding Coalition member. “We form intentional friendships with people who are struggling to get out of poverty and use our knowledge, contacts and experience to help them do it.”

Bonner County residents who are living below 200 percent of the federal Poverty Guidelines by family size – for example, a monthly income of less than $1,633 for a single person or $3,900 per month for a family of five – may qualify for assistance.

Poor people and their families are the heart of the program. They are the circle leaders and make the decisions about how they will become self-sufficient. Three volunteers – allies – are matched to each family to form a support circle. The goal is to create intentional friendships, which deny economic and social divisions. A family assessment is done in which the circle leader and their allies create a plan for using available public assistance programs and community resources to achieve success.

Allies help build on the strengths and talents of the circle leaders. They are willing to learn about all available resources and use their own friendships and contacts to assist a family in need.

Supporting the circle leaders and allies is a group of community volunteers – both individuals and organizations, who are known as the Circles Guiding Coalition. The volunteers focus on removing the barriers that keep people in poverty. They work with legislators to change laws and within communities to remove public misconceptions on the realities of poverty. Coalition members also seek the necessary funding for continuing the Circles Initiative. Start-up money for the program came from the Community Action Partnership in Sandpoint, supported by the Ambrosiani-Pastore Foundation Inc. Additional funding is being sought through grants and donations.

“We’ve found out that it does take money to get out of poverty, but it’s not the only thing,” said Shirley Paulison, a CAP service coordinator and co-chairwoman of the Bonner County Circles Guiding Coalition. “You can get out, but if you don’t have the rest of your life together, you can fall right back in again. So, what Circles does is increases your social capital in the community and gives you the connections to stay out.”

Social capital is a fancy term for the network of friends and contacts we fall back on when a crisis erupts in our lives. In short, it helps to have friends in the right places.

Weekly leadership meetings are a key element in helping circle leaders and allies learn more about finances, budgets, available programs and building strong personal relationships. Volunteers from the community agree to share their expertise by using presentations and learning activities. The weekly meetings include a free meal and free child care, so parents can relax and focus on the subject at hand. Individuals are required to attend three weekly meetings before being enrolled in Circles and to continue to attend two meeting a month thereafter.

The fourth meeting each month is called the “Big View,” where Guiding Coalition members, circle leaders and their families, allies, local administrators and legislators look at the larger social issues surrounding poverty in America and how to resolve problems. For more information regarding the Circles Initiative, or if you wish to volunteer, please contact CAP Service Coordinator Shirley Paulison at 255-2910 or by e-mail at s.paulison@acommunityaction partnership.org.