People in poverty face many barriers, but the external judgments of people in middle class and wealth are some of the biggest, according to one Getting Ahead graduate in Howard County, Maryland. Getting Ahead creates a space that is free of that judgment so people in poverty can investigate poverty’s impact on their lives and their communities.
“Everybody’s always trying to get ahead, so the title just speaks for itself,” says Monica, a graduate of Getting Ahead who now facilitates other groups of people going through the process of self-discovery and planning for the future.
Watch the video to hear testimonials from Getting Ahead facilitators and Getting Ahead investigators in Howard County.
More from HowardCounty.gov:
Getting Ahead groups in Howard County are an outgrowth of the Bridges Out of Poverty initiative of the Board to Promote Self-Sufficiency. The initiative is a two-part model that can change the culture of poverty in a community. Bridges Out of Poverty provides a framework for service providers to examine how they view and treat those in poverty, while Getting Ahead groups allow people in poverty to examine the effects of poverty on their personal resources and what it takes to improve those resources.
