Youth
Core Ministries/Core Community helping families lift themselves out of poverty
Submitted
by Sheryl White
Check out the story below: It is only
one beautiful true -life story from many!
Raised by a single mother in the projects in
Connecticut. At 16, I worked full-time to help make ends meet. Bullying,
fights, and teachers that seemed unable to connect with me were part of my
childhood. In 2006, my mother and I bought a home in South-Central
Kansas. I currently take care of my handicapped
mother and my 13-year-old high functioning autistic daughter. My household can
be quite stressful as I am the only able-bodied person with most
responsibilities on my shoulders. I was going through a
painful annulment process from a marriage to an emotionally abusive
alcoholic when I joined St. John Core Community. Retail therapy and overeating
were my “go to” coping mechanisms to deal with my anxiety and depression.
On-line shopping, credit card debt, and payday loans spun out of control. When
I joined Core, I had 5 credit cards in collections. I was in denial of just how
bad things had become financially! Being
in Core, I learned that I'm not alone and resources are available that I didn't
know were there. I realized I had toxic people in my life that I needed to distance
from for my life to improve. I've learned how to budget and how to look at
money in a whole different way. I became more self-confident and was able to
get a higher paying position as weekend supervisor caring for special needs
adults which resulted in a pay raise! I have raised my income by 63% and
lowered my debt to 5% of what it was. I'm caught up on my home taxes, have paid
off my payday loans and make monthly credit card payments that are in
collections. When starting Core, I was $37,000 in debt. My goal is to be debt
free by November! Core Community helped me realize that I was able to help
myself more than I ever thought I could! My life is a work in progress but it
has definitely improved as Core helped me realize my abilities and
options. Kelly Newman, St. John Core Community Core Leader
The mission
of Youth Core Ministry’s Core Community is engaging our communities to lift
families out of poverty. We believe God cares deeply for the poor and so should
His children. Core Community is a relationship-based program that builds
purposeful friendships across class lines to provide cognitive strategies and
creative problem-solving moving individuals from poverty to self-sufficiency. For the last seven years, we have
been embracing families and teaching them positive steps to increase their
income to 200% above the Federal guidelines of poverty. We currently serve 15
communities with Core Community. These
are Greensburg (Kiowa County), Stafford, St. John, Larned-
Pawnee County, Great Bend- Barton County, Kingman, Herington, Atwood, Augusta,
Anthony, Harper, Meade, Marion, and Emporia. We also have a Core Community
group, 40 miles east of St. Louis in Bond County, Illinois.
Core
Community was created from our work with youth over the last 25 years. Through our years of service as South-Central
Kansas Youth for Christ and now Youth Core Ministries (YCM since 2017) our
ministry team has spent countless hours with young people in ministry. Many of
these youth were raised in poverty but experienced spiritual transformation and
growth. Deborah Factor was dismayed to watch these young people repeat the
cycle of poverty in their families as they entered adulthood. As Deborah Factor
(CEO of YCM) has said many times “I am not okay with that!” In response to this
concern, she researched the issue of poverty through educational venues and in
2006 was introduced to the work of Dr. Ruby Payne in “Bridges Out of Poverty.”
The belief was that more should be done to aid our young people in becoming
healthy, thriving adults. This belief needed to include an outreach to help
support young people get out of poverty. Deborah guided two young women from
our ministry through “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting by World” by Phil Devol, a workbook aligned with the principles of Payne’s
“Bridges Out of Poverty” designed specifically for those in poverty. Factor observed life changing outcomes in
both of their lives. The outcome? These two young women walked out of poverty
as they were empowered to lead and make positive decisions. The powerful
influence of middle-class friends walking alongside them within a community of
positivity helped them find the necessary tools and resources. This success led
Deborah to present Core Community to our board as a major initiative for our
ministries. She believed this relational program in conjunction with the
“Bridges” and “Getting Ahead” curriculum was the ticket for resolving poverty
for many families in the counties and communities that our ministry serves. She
soon became trained as a “Bridges” certified instructor. And in 2012 the
initiative was adopted by the board of directors and Deborah was given the
initiative to start these programs in the counties we serve.
The success of Core Community is phenomenal.
Currently in all our sites 293 individuals have graduated from our first
“Getting Ahead” phase, 59 adults and kids have walked out of poverty, 296 kids’
lives have been impacted for the better, $481,976 debt has been erased by all
of our families, and we can boast of a $1,415,356 combined increased annual
income for our families.
Do you need a hand up to better your life and that of
your family? Contact our YCM headquarters for more information, 620-723-2727.
They will direct you to the appropriate contact in your area. If you live in
the Meade area, please contact our Meade County Community Liaison, Ann Classen
at alcrcp@att.net or 620-629-1813.
Submitted
by Sheryl White
Youth
Core Ministries
Development
Coordinator