Community Engagement Event
Bridges Alliance of Johnson County works with individuals struggling to make ends meet. Through their Circles program, the Bridges team seeks to build relationships with individuals who are working to move from merely surviving to thriving. Folks interested in participating in are matched with community volunteers who can encourage and walk alongside them, providing support as they learn about community services and resources. More importantly, participants in the program learn to recognize and better utilize their own personal strengths, assets and support network. The relationships formed are intended to be long-term and helpful to participants, called Circle Leaders, as they set goals and work towards them. Their experiences of opportunities and obstacles are shared with the broader Bridges community, so that successes are celebrated and obstacles can be avoided.
One of the ways Bridges Alliance supports the Circle Leaders is by raising awareness throughout the community to the layers and complexities surrounding poverty and the barriers that people often face in working to move beyond a life of survival. In June 2021, Bridges Alliance of Johnson County sponsored community workshops hosted by Jodi Pfarr, who is a renowned speaker and consultant that brings her personal experiences of living in poverty together with her work experience as a social services worker. Jodi brings a message that the better understanding we all have of the causes and complexities of poverty, the better equipped we are individually and collectively to dismantle poverty in our communities.
