Starkville Bridges Out of Poverty is currently offering a “Getting By in a Just Getting’ Ahead World” program to those in or near poverty to investigate their situation and learn how to break the cycle with knowledge and builded resources to reach their ideal situation.
The program began this fall with 12 “co-investigators” and they meet once a week.
“During that time we feed them and we provide childcare - so we feed them and the children and then we take care of the children during the class time,” Starkville Bridges board member Kim Coble.
A $25 gift card is given also to repay co-investigators for their time.
Getting Ahead is based on research done by Phil DeVol and Ruby Payne, authors of “Bridges Out of Poverty.”
In the class, they look at things that are relevant to co-investigators and the community as far as poverty.
“For instance we’re looking at their housing and we’re talking about does Starkville as a community provide enough low-income housing. Something else that’s relevant is we’re looking at the predatory businesses such as the Payday Loans and those,” Coble said.
Co-investigators discuss their current jobs and whether or not Starkville provides adequate job opportunities for them.
Income ratio and hidden rules of the economic class are also topics.
“Society usually runs on the hidden rules of middle income and when you’re in poverty of course you’re in low income and there’s different hidden rules for them,” Coble said. “And so they don’t know the hidden rules of the middle-class so it’s hard for them sometimes to function and get along in middle class, and to get the jobs and stuff because they don’t know the hidden rules.”
The main goal is for co-investigators to learn something within the class that will help them to take action for their own life and transition into the middle-class.
“Also one of the objectives for the class is for them to become involved in the community,” Coble said.
Coble said that the way problems are solved in the community, particularly with poverty, is that the middle-class, wealthy and those in poverty meet to make decisions together.
The feedback from co-investigators about the program has been positive.
“One of the things that all 12 of them tend to agree on is that Starkville doesn’t do a very good job at helping people get out of poverty. They more or less put a bandaid on it,” Coble said.
Coble said this is helping the cycle instead of breaking the cycle.
In further attempt to alleviate poverty, Starkville Bridges hopes to gain community awareness about poverty by offering Community Training to the middle-class.
“That’s also another way that we can help our community because we need to educate people about poverty,” she said.
“Everybody has this preconceived notion that people in poverty are lazy, that they’re just using the system, they have a big screen TV, an iPhone, and they really don’t know about poverty.”
Coble said she hopes to educate them on “why they have a big screen TV and why they have an iPhone” according to Coble.
“It makes more sense once you learn about different aspects of poverty,” she said.
She hopes that dealing with those in poverty will become easier once individuals get insight and study their shared language.
Coble used the example of a school teacher if he or she were to participate in the class.
“If she has the information about people in poverty, then she’s going to be able to deal better with a student who is in poverty because she is going to understand where he’s coming from,” Coble said.
Both classes are only available when funding is possible by facilitators.
Coble plans to offer another class in the spring and fall of 2019.
If anyone wishes to donate to help Starkville Bridges continue the programs to investigate and eradicate poverty, visit starkvillebridges.com.