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• 2-1-1 Call System
• Connections Corner and the Self-Sufficiency Team
• Food Security
• Healthier Laramie County
• Housing
• Legal Advocacy
• Transportation
• Youth Prevention Action Coalition

Connections Corner and the Self-Sufficiency Team

The Issue

To be truly self-sufficient, a family must earn approximately 200% of the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines on a consistent basis. Most subsidies, however, are not available for families earning 130% or more of this baseline amount. The result is often an insurmountable gap for families trying to reach self-sufficiency. When households do not have adequate resources to meet their basic needs, children and youth suffer, graduation rates decline, businesses struggle with high turnover and a lack of a skilled workforce, and communities struggle with reduced economic productivity and increased crime.

Our Plan

The Self-Sufficiency Team has mobilized an initiative called Connections Corner. Connections Corner helps people move out of multigenerational poverty by:

• Launching an initiative called Circles™, where people learn how they can work their way out of poverty
• Building relationships across class and race lines to help people as they move out of poverty
• Helping people develop resources to achieve goals unique to their own needs
• Helping the community identify and address issues surrounding poverty
• Providing networking opportunities at weekly community meetings to build social capital
• Partnering with other resources in the community to better serve Laramie County
• Increasing employee retention and building a stronger workforce in Laramie County
• Advancing Bridges out of Poverty concepts to raise awareness about the causes and issues surrounding poverty

Connections Corner, working with the Circles National Campaign, brings people from every socio-economic background to work together on ending poverty in Laramie County. With Circles, people on the lower rungs of the income ladder develop individualized plans for self-sufficiency. They are then partnered with allies who come alongside as friends and supporters in helping them carry out plans for self-sufficiency.

Key People

Chris Wiederspahn, Department of Workforce Services

Stephanie Pyle, Connections Corner

Helpful Resources

http://www.wyomingworkforce.org
http://www.wyomingatwork.com
http://www.ahaprocess.com
http://www.movethemountain.org