Circle program grads ready to fight poverty

from the Tribune Review

Vickie Allman said she was in the midst of a tough time in her life emotionally and financially as a divorce left her a single mom with four kids ranging in age from 5 to 17. "I was at that point in my life that I needed to do something. I wasn't sure what exactly I needed to do," she said.

Today she is one of four Jeannette residents who are the first to graduate from a program called Circles, presented by Westmoreland Community Action. It's geared toward ending poverty and changing the mind-set and goals of a community. The four graduates are known as "leaders" in the Circles program.

"It's a real good feeling, because we had a chance of losing our house," said Eugene Smorey, who is involved in the program with his wife, Tina. "We learned a whole lot from the program. There's so many programs out there (that can help us); we just didn't know they were there."

His wife said their involvement in Circles will benefit their daughters -- ages 3 and 4. "We want them to look at us differently," she said.

The training period -- called the Getting Ahead curriculum -- began with nine participants. Only four remained throughout the entire 15 weeks, meeting Wednesday nights at the Salvation Army in Jeannette's West End.

"It was pretty impressive. Even though they're done with the class, they don't want to not meet every Wednesday," said Tay Waltenbaugh, Westmoreland Community Action's chief executive officer. "They still want to get together and work on their plans."

Tika Carter said her two kids -- a 19-year old daughter and 12-year old son -- were her motivation to stick with it. "I want them to have a better life than I did growing up, not that it was bad, but it wasn't perfect," Carter said. "They see me doing it, going back to school after 20 years of trying to finish a degree. I'm still struggling a little, but not as bad." "I was needing the extra budgeting,"

Allman said of the difficult time she faced. "This kind of came at the proper time." Next, the leaders will be matched with "allies," who usually come from middle-class backgrounds.

"We're looking for more allies, but right now we have some that can start with the group that's here," said Marilyn Fox, Circles coordinator. Leaders and allies meet to build friendships and work on the circle leaders' dreams, plans and goals. Allies can fill many roles, such as helping the leaders with transportation, education and even financial questions.

Funding for the program was presented by the Westmoreland Now & Forever Fund for the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, the state departments of Public Welfare and Community and Economic Development.

Jeannette was chosen as the starting point for Circles because it is one of the county's neediest communities. Of Westmoreland's 17 school districts, Monessen, New Kensington-Arnold and Jeannette have the highest percentage of low-income students at 56 percent, 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively, according to the Census Bureau.

The three school districts have the highest percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunches. Another Circles program is expected to start in Monessen in the near future. A coordinator has been hired and funding is in place.