Circles RVA graduate, Ally and board member Shanteny Jackson (Photo by Jay Paul)
Shanteny Jackson knew she wanted to advance her career, but she didn’t know how to begin.
A community health worker at the Richmond City Health District, Jackson was in a meeting in 2018 when she heard about a new nonprofit — Circles RVA — that aims to lift people out of poverty through intentional goal-setting and relationship-building.
“I was very interested and followed up with conversations,” Jackson says. “It fit my needs [and] was an opportunity for growth.”
Circles RVA, a chapter of the national nonprofit Circles USA, was deliberately established to attack poverty in Richmond, says the Rev. Bo Millner Jr., a founding board member. Millner, former rector of Richmond’s Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, had seen how the church’s Red Door feeding ministry had expanded over the years. Asked to serve on the citizens’ advisory board for the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building, Millner saw the numbers: At roughly 25%, Richmond’s poverty rate is 10 points higher than that of the state as a whole. For children, it’s worse: more than 35%.
“That stood in such stark contrast to all the good things that are happening in the city of Richmond,” Millner says. He organized a series of “community conversations,” a yearlong process to determine what could be done, how to take action and who would be involved.
“Out of those long and sometimes difficult conversations came a commitment to work with Circles USA,” he says. “The effort was intentionally structured to not be a faith-based initiative. We wanted all faiths and no faiths. We wanted the end result to be families lifted out of poverty, not a Band-Aid over the latest wound inflicted on them through no fault of their own.”
Unlike other assistance organizations, for Circles RVA the approach is to connect participants, called “Leaders,” with “Allies” who help the Leaders build networks and navigate their own paths. The terminology is important, says another founding board member, the Rev. Remmie Chew Jr. “You can’t just come in and tell us what you need,” he says. “We need to sit down with you and find out what you need, where you need help and how we can guide you. That was a discussion early on. We didn’t want to [create] a dictatorship organization. Everything starts with a Leader, and everything is built around a Leader.”
Kristin Blalock, Circles RVA community coordinator, is one of only two part-time paid staff members; a working board of directors offers assistance, but the Circles model relies on volunteers to serve as Allies, who support and help the Leaders on their journeys.
“Allies are cheerleaders and accountability partners,” she says. “They don’t need specific skill sets; we’re really looking for people who are willing to listen and share life experiences.”
Leaders and Allies commit to an 18-month process, which begins with 12 weeks of classes designed to help Leaders set their goals and to help Allies understand their role. “It can feel intimidating, because it’s a long-term commitment, but that long-term commitment is what creates impact and makes it work,” Blalock says.
Pre-COVID, Leaders and Allies would meet Tuesday nights at Grace & Holy Trinity for dinner, conversation and programs on topics such as financial literacy and professional writing. There were also children’s programs, so that parents didn’t have to worry about child care. During the pandemic, programs have moved online. Circles volunteers deliver meals to Leaders at their homes and have helped secure the technology needed to remain connected.
Shelly Mercer is a new Leader who had been working with a home loan lender for four years, looking to purchase a house, but she wasn’t making the progress she wanted. She came to Circles RVA looking for “support, motivation and budgeting tools” so she can be a stronger parent to her 2-year-old daughter and young adult children.
“I’m older now; I want more and want to better myself and be a good example for [my children],” she says.
Mercer says the “awesome” training class taught her how to write professional emails and text messages, develop a monthly budget with homeownership in mind, and helped her practice job-hunting and interview skills. Currently a certified nursing assistant, Mercer is working to become a licensed practical nurse with a long-term goal of owning her own assisted-living facility for U.S. military veterans.
Mercer’s Allies are Don and Roberta Felitto, who moved to Richmond from Connecticut 18 months ago to be close to one of their daughters. Both are retired; Don was a physician, Roberta a real estate broker.
“This type of volunteer work is highly valued by both of us,” Don says. Roberta adds, “The whole setup is different from any other organization; that’s what drew us to it.”
Don notes that each Leader is responsible for setting SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and with a clear Time boundary. As Allies, it’s their job to talk with Mercer regularly to help keep her on track.
Jackson, who graduated in the first Leaders group and now serves on the Circles RVA board and volunteers as an Ally, secured a job promotion that includes management responsibilities and a salary increase. “Circles went full circle for me,” she says. “It’s a humbling experience. I know this is more a marathon, not a sprint.
“I am so thankful for [the staff] and the board members,” she adds. “They see and invest in the lives and communities that are valuable … not temporarily but sustainably making change. I’m a product of that investment.”
Circles RVA has four Leader “graduates” and 23 current Leaders in four different cohort groups. While some may see the task of eradicating poverty like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon, board member Millner says each small success makes a difference: “If I am a member of a family that has been lifted out of poverty, it is the ocean.”
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