Welcome to the premier edition of the

Getting Ahead In A Just-Gettin’-By

World newsletter.

We are hoping to issue quarterly

newsletters full of stories and

statistics and information on the

Getting Ahead Program as well

as the Bridges Out of Poverty

Initiative.

However, this edition will be devoted

to our recent Open House.

We will be sharing with you some

statistics, success stories, quotes and

photos from the event.

If you were one of the 100 people who

did attend-Thank you.

However even if you couldn’t attend

we still want to share all the exciting

things going on. We hope you enjoy

this special edition of the newsletter.

If you have any questions or comments,

our contact information is included on

the back page. Please feel free to call

or e-mail us. We would love to hear

from you.

Welcome

Getting Ahead In A Just-Gettin-By World Premier Edition November 2009

Open House Information

The open house was held

on November 12, 2009

from 7:00-9:00 pm at the

Multi Cultural Family

Center.

We are so grateful to the

Multi Cultural Family

Center for providing us

with a beautiful stage for

our event.

There were 100 people in

attendance including 19

graduates from the

Getting Ahead Classes.

Those 19 graduates shared

their stories and are some

of the best advocates we

can have to discuss the

importance of the work

being done with the

classes.

Music was provided by

Allison, Emily and Andy

Ott as well as Malia

Wenny.

The string quartet

provided us with

beautiful background

music throughout the

event. Those are four

very talented children.

And yes-for those of you

who recognized the

name-three of the

musicians are Jim and

Teresa Ott’s children.

Food was generously

donated by Divine

Desserts, All Things

Sweet, the Dubuque

Rescue Mission, Carol

Armstrong, Jessica

Kieffer and Ermina

Soler.

After a short introduction

by Jim Ott and Carroll

Clark, Amy Eudaley a

recent Getting Ahead

graduate shared her

story of climbing out of

poverty and looking

forward to a bright

future.

Ermina Soler, another

Getting Ahead graduate

and AmeriCorps

Liaison for Getting

Ahead also shared her

story about the transition

from poverty to middle

class and the struggles

involved in this

transition.

We also had a special

guest speaker-Phillip

DeVol (see photo on

right).

Mr. DeVol is the author of

Getting Ahead In A Just-

Gettin-By World.

He was on hand to answer

questions and meet each of

the graduates personally.

It was a wonderful evening

for all involved.

Quotes from Getting Ahead Graduates

Poverty: The extent to which

an individual does without es-

sential resources.

Business Champions:

Dictionary.com defines a

champion as “a person who

fights for or defends any person

or cause: a champion of the

oppressed. “ A business

champion is an employer who

is someone willing to look past

a spotty resume long enough to

find out what kind of employee

is behind that resume, an

employer willing to give

preference to those who have

taken the Career Readiness

Certificate (CRC) or an

employer who is applying the

Bridges Out of Poverty

concepts at their workplace. In

short-an employer who is

willing to give a second chance

at employment for those who

typically don’t get a second

chance.

Four areas of research on

poverty:

Behaviors of the Individuals in

poverty: Research on choices,

behaviors and habits of

individuals in poverty.

Human and Social Capital in

the Community: Research done

on the conditions in a

community that cause poverty.

Exploitation: Research on how

people are exploited and how

that causes poverty.

Political/Economic Structures:

Research on political,

economic and social policies at

the international, national,

state and local levels that cause

poverty.

Talking the Talk- Getting Ahead Terminology

Mental Model: Mental models

are stories, analogies,

cartoons, charts, diagrams,

and drawings. Mental models

are helpful because they help

us remember, learn faster, see

the whole picture in its parts,

understand complex issues

and they don't rely on

spoken or written language.

Mental models:

- are an internal picture of

how the world works

- exist below awareness

- are theories in use, often

unexamined

- determine how we act

- can help or interfere with

learning.

Hidden Rules: The unwritten

cues and habits of a group.

Many times these rules come

from the environment in

which a person is raised.

“This program not only

changed my life-it saved my

life !”...a quote from a recent

graduate who stated that her

life was so entrenched in the

poverty mindset that she for-

got there was more out there.

Now she is setting goals and

moving on.

“I feel more empowered and

know that I can work toward

the goals I want to

succeed at.”

Question: Would you

recommend Getting Ahead to

others, and if so –why?

Answer: “Yes. So they can

see what is holding them back

from participating in life as a

whole.”

“It has helped me to realize

why I am in poverty.”

“ I learned to set realistic

goals.”

Question: Would you

recommend Getting Ahead to

others, and if so –why?

Answer: “Yes. Because it

helped me a lot and opened

doors for me that I didn’t

know were there for me.”

“This class was a great

experience for me and

everything I learned I will

carry with me always.”

“I’ve learned that the world is

for everyone!”

Page 2 Getting Ahead In A Just-Gettin-By World

Photo Gallery:

Since most of us work with numbers and the demand of numbers, we would like to share with you

how much of a financial impact a community can experience from just one Getting Ahead graduate

who becomes employed and no longer needs cash welfare, food stamps or housing.

On average, 1 person with 3 children receives $426.00 per month in FIP (cash welfare) benefits,

roughly $371.00 in food stamps and approximately $650.00 in housing assistance.

A family can be on FIP for up to five years. If a Getting Ahead graduate can get out of poverty and

never need FIP, this would save roughly $25,560.00

If this same family no longer needed food stamps, it would save $4452.00 per year. Many people are

on food stamps five years or more. This turns that 5 year savings into $22,260.00.

If that family is able to start paying all of their rent, that would be a savings of $7800.00 per year.

Using the same five years as above, that would equal $39,000.00.

All together the savings over just 5 years for a family who got off benefits could total $86,820.00.

Let’s see-we spend approximately $650.00 to put one person through the Getting Ahead program.

And with the right resources and abilities that graduate becomes self sufficient and in turn saves our

community over eighty six thousand dollars. Now that’s what I call a great return on an investment.

But best of all, of that graduate is able to break the cycle of poverty and keep their three children

from needing to utilize those services, not only has the quality of life improved greatly for that fam-

ily, but the amount of tax dollar savings jumps to an astonishing $260,460.00.

Now I don’t know how everyone defines a successful program-but I’ll let the dollar signs speak for

themselves!

How Getting Ahead Affects Tax Dollars

Page 3 November 2009 Wish List:

Volunteers:

childcare for class nights

and K.I.T meetings

transportation for K.I.T

meetings and occasionally

for class-mostly during the

cold months

meals during classes

mentors in a wide range of

areas

tutors for GED and college

level classes

presenters for K.I.T.

Supplies:

binders (22 per class-4

classes per year)

loose leaf/notebooks

calculators

pens and pencils

easel pads/flip charts

double sided tape

Miscellaneous:

Employers willing to be

Business Champions

Financial support that can

be used for leadership

trainings for graduates, the

cost of supporting one

person through the class

($650.00), door prizes,

transportation costs,

miscellaneous operating

expenses, etc…

Getting Ahead

Graduates and Staff

at the Open House

Statistics

Here are some statistics from the 6 classes who have completed the process and gradu-

ated.

Totals Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World group

93 total individuals were enrolled in the groups

Completion rate: 72% Drop out rate: 12% Incompletes (due to illness or job): 11%

Males: 34% Females: 66% Families with Children: 34%

White: 68% African American: 26% Hispanic: 2% Native American: 1%

Employment status at the beginning of the group: Full time 14% part time 22%

Education at the beginning of the group: Enrolled in GED 2% Enrolled in College 3%

Employment status at the end of the group: Full time 14% part time 30%

Education at the end of the group: Enrolled in GED 3% enrolled in college 4%

Employment status within one year of completing the group: Full time 13%

Part time 17% (Note-these stats only include the first and second graduating classes)

Education within one year of completing the group: Enrolled in GED 3%

enrolled in college 4% (Note-these stats only include the first and second

graduating classes)

Homeless at the beginning of group: 27%

Homeless at the end of group: 13%

Homeless within one year of completion: 5%

P.O. Box 695

Dubuque IA 52004

Getting Ahead In A

Just-Gettin-By World

Future Story for Getting Ahead & Bridges Out of Poverty

Bridges Out of Poverty: Spring 2010

Getting Ahead In A Just-Gettin’-By World: Referrals accepted from now until the

end of the year. Interviews completed in January and class will run from February to

June 2010.

K.I.T. (Keeping in Touch) meetings (for graduates only): Will be held the 3rd Tues-

day of every month at 6:00 pm at NICC Professional Arts Plaza. Childcare and re-

freshments will be provided.

Long term future story: Continue hosting 4 classes of 20 participants per year.

Continue hosting at least 1 full Bridges Out of Poverty training per year.

Continue offering KIT meetings for all Getting Ahead graduates.

Develop a plan to bring the Circles Campaign to the Dubuque Community.

For more information contact:

Jim Ott

jmott30@aol.com

Carroll Clark

cclark@cityofdubuque.org

Ermina Soler

gettingaheaddbq@live.com

Alyssa Hauser

Alyssa@dbqfoundation.org

Photo Gallery:

For more information on Bridges Out of Poverty or Getting Ahead , please log onto www.ahaprocess.com.

For more information on the Circles Campaign, please log on to www.movethemountain.org.