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aha! Process, Inc. - Circles Campaign

Circles™ Model

aha! Process, Inc. is working in partnership with Move the Mountain and Wider Opportunities for Women in communities nationwide to build relationships across class and racial lines to end poverty.

These three organizations are working toward the extraordinary—an end to poverty.

The approach is simple: Engaging people from poverty and middle class in the Circles™ Campaign to work together on their dreams, plans, and goals.

The Circles™ Model aims to (1) change the mindset of the community so it wants to and thinks it can end poverty; (2) change the goals (policy, law) of the system to end poverty; and (3) empower people to self-organize.

Circles™ Model in Action
Read the news articles about the people and organizations that are working together as a community.
“We were kind of leery at first. We thought we would be judged. It was shocking that it didn’t happen. This year has totally changed us.”
—Michelle Ridge, Circles™ Leader from Saline County, Missouri.

Read more articles
Circles™ is an intentional way for people to build relationships across class and race lines to end poverty in their communities. Circles is a high-impact strategy that will:

  • Change the mindset of the community so it wants to end poverty.
  • Change goals, policies, and approaches to end poverty.
  • Empower people in poverty to help solve community problems while transitioning out of poverty themselves.
High-impact strategies are the actions taken to move the community from the current reality of poverty to a preferred future for individuals, families, and the community. One aspect of the preferred future is for individuals and families in poverty to be able to stabilize their households so that they can focus on building resources. Through Circles, individuals and families can find reasons, relationships, and the resources to thrive. A Circle is a supportive, intentional, reciprocal, befriending relationship made up of one Circle Leader who is living in poverty and two to five Circle Allies who are from middle class. Circle Leaders and Allies learn a lexicon for poverty, economic class, race, and community prosperity that helps them develop relationships of mutual respect. Circle Leaders learn the lexicon by working through the Getting Ahead workbook, while Allies learn the lexicon by attending Bridges Out of Poverty workshops. A Circle typically meets once or twice a month to build friendships and to work on the Circle Leader’s dreams, plans, and goals.

A Circle Leader is responsible for her or his Circle; convening, leading, and giving and receiving support. She or he will work with the Allies to complete the plan that was developed in the Getting Ahead group. Getting Ahead prepares Circle Leaders to take a leadership role in the Circle and to use their knowledge and skills as problem solvers to work on poverty issues in the community as well.

Circle Allies are community members who want to be in a supportive, intentional, befriending relationship with an individual or family working to get out of poverty. Circle Allies work with the Circle Leader to figure out how to accomplish her or his plan. Within the guidelines set by the Community Guiding Coalition, Circle Allies do what makes sense and brings joy in the relationship. Allies and Circle Leaders build and use social capital across class and race lines to build a healthier community.

A Community Guiding Coalition designs the local, community-based Circles initiative. The Guiding Coalition is a cross-representative group that includes people from all economic classes and races who are committed to building their community and ending poverty. The Guiding Coalition is responsible for Circles implementation and assures it is a high-impact strategy that changes the mindset of the community. Guiding Coalition members learn the Circles lexicon by attending an orientation on the Circles model and a workshop on Bridges out of Poverty constructs.

The Circle Coach supports the Circle Leader in the fine-tuning of her or his plan and in navigating social service systems. The Circle Coach can assist the entire Circle in figuring things out, providing information, or helping to mediate difficult situations.

The Circles Coordinator helps organize the community and supports the Community Guiding Coalition in developing the resources needed to implement a Circles initiative.

Circles Features
In addition to regular meetings of Circles, the Circle Leaders, Circle Allies, and other interested community members come together at Weekly Community Meetings to provide support and networking for each other. Best practices show that the Weekly Community Meeting needs to include a community meal, childcare and programming for the children, community building, leadership development opportunities, and programming and activities to support the work of the Circle Leaders in moving out of poverty. A Circles initiative usually includes a cohort of 25 Circles. This means that anywhere from 30–75 people could attend a Weekly Community Meeting.

Typically, the fourth Weekly Community Meeting of the month is the Big View Meeting. Circle Leaders, Circle Allies, and interested community members meet to address the systems barriers and roadblocks families are experiencing in their moves out of poverty. They are educational (to change the mindset of community members) and results-oriented (to change the goals of the system), with action plans developed to address the systems barriers that families are experiencing. The barriers addressed can come from the Circle Leaders’ and Circle Allies’ concrete experiences, issues raised during Getting Ahead investigations, or agreed-upon systems issues identified through local, state, and national associations. The Big View Meeting is used to address all causes of poverty.

Many communities implement a car donation program or some type of transportation assistance. Transportation is a key issue for families moving out of poverty. Asset development is another key feature to help Circle Leaders make progress on their desire to consistently meet their basic needs. A revolving loan fund has proven itself to be a best practice. A fair loan can assist families in getting over inevitable financial crises as they stabilize their lives. Brokering services happens with paid staff, Circle Allies, and other Circle Leaders and assists with stabilizing the family situation. Many initiatives have a giving table of clothing, household products, and small appliances as part of their weekly community meeting. It’s an opportunity for members of the local Circles community to give to each other and for the larger community to be part of the initiative.

Circles™ Features

The Circles Campaign is managed by a partnership of Move the Mountain, Wider Opportunities for Women, the Charitable Giving Resource Center, and aha! Process, Inc. The partners take guidance from a National Guiding Coalition that is based on the model at the local level and made up of experts in the poverty field, people in poverty, people of color, people from many disciplines, and people from nationally recognized antipoverty organizations.