Although Rotary is looked at by many people as a business networking organization, we Rotarians know that we actually look for opportunities to practice our Service Above Self Motto.  That is why I love not only our presentations that give us information about businesses or city projects but also the presentations that show us how other organizations are practicing service above self and how we can help. 

 

This week we heard from Roger Howard and Sharon Jackson from Omaha/ Council Bluffs Bridges Out of Poverty Organization.  Roger is the founder and full-time volunteer CEO for the organization.  He is a certified facilitator in both Bridges Out of Poverty and Strategies for Professionals and Communities as well as Getting Ahead in a Just Getting-by World.  Sharon is the Vice President and Program Director for Omaha Bridges with a background in the military, Experian, Matrix Marketing and as a case manager at the Stephen Center.  She is also a certified facilitator.

 

The mission of the Omaha/Council Bluffs Bridges Out of Poverty is to reduce poverty in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area by 50% in the community within the next 10 years.

With100,000 people in our area living at or below the poverty level Roger realized that if 27,000 people were pulled out of poverty this would be a doable goal.  Sharon introduced Roger to the Bridges Out of Poverty course.  This course is used in 300 U.S communities and it is 75% successful in helping people lift themselves out of poverty.  The local branch is the fastest growing Bridges in the U.S and has even more success than the 75% nationally reported.  Success is accomplished by implementing partners from non-profits, health care agencies and government and business groups.  The Getting Ahead curriculum is used to help people work themselves out of poverty by looking at challenges and accessing their own resources. This helps them learn to solve problems in a world that provides them with resources that are limited.  A few of the soft skills taught are time management, problem solving, planning backward, building social capital, language, negotiation skills, among others that give them more necessary tools to work with.  Although many come from homeless shelters and are recovering addicts, they have a 94% graduation rate.  With self-assessment they are able to write a new future for themselves.  Roger shared that with 2500 graduates a year for 10 years that is 25,000 adults.   These adults can increase their income to 45,000 dollars a year which will raises the average GDP of Omaha by 500 million dollars a year and the government benefits by 700 million dollars a year.  If 200 million dollars in benefits are reinvested to those that really still need them there would be a billion-dollar impact on the community. That was math and it sounded amazing.  This is a worthy program.  If you want to help, they are looking for financial investments as well as people to expand their board. If anyone is interested check them out.

 

Roger Howard -  rhoward@omabop.org

Sharon Joackson - sjackson@omabop.org

 

 

Another reminder, we have cancelled the Honor Roll Luncheon and working on a new non-event to honor the students and keep our tradition going even in these tough times.

 

Everyone stay safe and I’ll see you (sort of) on Wednesday in the Zoom Room!