GETTING AHEAD

“Getting Ahead” falls under the larger Bridges Out of Poverty umbrella and is a 9-week workshop designed for people in poverty. Working in a group with a facilitator, Participants, called “investigators,” examine the impact of poverty on themselves and their communities and to explore the world through the lens of economic class.


Investigators develop a series of mental models to examine their own lives and create new goals for improved futures. In 18 sessions over 9 weeks, the investigators explore the impact that poverty has had on them, investigate economic realities, complete a self assessment of their own resources, make plans to build those resources, and develop a mental model of community prosperity.
Getting Ahead provides people in poverty with the same information found in Bridges Out of Poverty, which was developed for professionals and others in the community working to end poverty.


The Getting Ahead curriculum:

Investigators from Workshop 3

• Involves rigorous work done in a safe learning environment with the support of an experienced facilitator and co-facilitator.

• Enables participants, called “investigators,” to examine their own experience of poverty as well as explore issues in the community that impact poverty − banking, housing, jobs, transportation − providing critical information the community can use to take action to end poverty.

• Guides investigators through an assessment of their own resources and how to build those resources as part of their move to self-sufficiency.

• Puts the concepts, tools, and relationships in the hands of people in poverty to make a difference in their own lives and in the life of their community.

“Getting Ahead” does not provide answers for the investigators on how to establish economic stability nor does it make the argument for change. Instead, motivation, insight, and plans come from the investigators themselves. Upon completing “Getting Ahead”, investigators will have a self-developed plan and the motivation to achieve it.
Greater Hartford Getting Ahead AccomplishmentsWe recently completed our 3rd Getting Ahead workshop here in Greater Hartford in January 2014. A graduate from the first workshop has become a co-facilitator for workshops 2 and 3 and she has presented on her experience in the program during several Bridges Out of Poverty Seminars. In addition, three graduates have continued on to find employment. Our original facilitator has recently found full-time employment as well. We look forward to more success stories as we gear up for our fourth workshop in late 2014. With support from the Aetna Foundation we are conducting pre-post evaluations of the Getting Ahead workshops. We collect data before, during, and after each workshop to measure changes. We are currently in the process of analyzing the data.