Moving from poverty into prosperity is not easy. It requires self-awareness, willingness to learn, a strong support system, behavioral changes, and a lot of hard work. For area residents ready to change their lives, staff members of the new Family Opportunity Center at Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan are ready to provide the support.
The Family Opportunity Center (FOC) is based on the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Center for Working Families® (CWF) framework for neighborhood service delivery. This model has shown that bundling and sequencing services and ongoing support has much more success that providing a person or family a singular service.
A Human Service Campus Approach
“We’re bundling services together for more impact,” says Wilma Wilder, Goodwill’s FOC Coordinator and Employment Coach. “We offer workforce development, financial coaching, and assistance accessing benefits and income supports. All of this happens at Goodwill’s Human Service Campus which also houses several other organizations that can offer services to the participants as well.”
Wilder and colleague Sharilyn Parsons, the FOC’s Financial Coach—on contract from Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services (KNHS)—studied other communities’ programs for best practices and did site visits to two other programs in Detroit.
Employment coach Wilma Wilder works with an
FOC client to identify her transferable skills.
FOC client to identify her transferable skills.
“We are passionate about the work and want to make sure we bring in the best possible format for delivering these services to the residents of Kalamazoo,” says Wilder.
Once enrolled, clients are required to take a four-week financial literacy course with Parsons, to help them with budgeting, improving their credit score, and financial planning.
Wilder teaches an optional six-week Career Discovery / Career Opportunities course and provides one-on-one employment coaching. A regular job club meeting will help keep clients motivated to improve their careers.
While they have distinct roles, Wilder and Parsons are creating the program with a holistic approach that will take into account each individual’s needs, goals, and life vision.
Family Opportunity Center staff will track participants’ progress through the “Efforts to Outcomes” software that is being used nationally by all of the Family Opportunity and Center for Working Family programs.
Past Present and Future
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) asked Goodwill to take on the project in late 2010. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation is funding the Kalamazoo FOC along with sister projects in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids.
The Family Opportunity Center held its first orientation session in early June. Referrals into the program have come from a variety of sources including Goodwill’s other programs such as the GED / ABE program, HIRE; and the Kalamazoo Tax Counseling Initiative. Other organizations have also referred participants including KNHS; the Hispanic American Council; MIWorks!; and Advocacy Services for Kids.
Wilder does outreach at various local career-related events. Local service providers are welcome to refer individuals they believe are suited for the program.“This is intensive work,” says Wilder. “We’re looking for people who really want to make a change and are willing to commit to a partnership with the FOC coaches.”
A grand opening will occur in late summer or early fall, with a program expansion.
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