Pathway of Hope | Southern Territory

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“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”

-Nelson Mandela

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Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Poverty

one family at a time

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Pathway of Hope is an approach to providing targeted services to families with a desire to take action to break the cycle of crisis and enable a path out of inter-generational poverty. It is rooted in a case management approach, focusing on client needs through a strength‐based lens. The Salvation Army will continue to serve all those that come to us in need, but Pathway of Hope will allow us to dramatically increase our impact by:

Providing targeted services to families with a desire to take action, changing life trajectories and increasing hope

Bringing all the Army’s internal resources to bear, aligned to the goals of clients

Catalyzing community collaboration in service of shared clients

Pathway of Hope was developed with today’s economic and social contexts in mind:

As poverty increases in America, families are increasingly vulnerable

Poverty in America is at an all time high.
Approximately 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty today (Salvation Army Report to America).
Unemployment is rising, leading to greater vulnerability.
In 2012 about 48M Americans ages 18 to 64 did not work even one week out of the year, up from 45M in 2009. For the first time since the Great Depression, median household incomes (adjusted for inflation) have not risen (Harvard 2012).
The intergenerational effects of poverty are staggering.
The longer a child is in poverty, the greater the chance he or she will remain in poverty as an adult: children who are in poverty for more than half of their childhood are 32 times more likely to be in poverty as an adult.

Social sector funders are increasingly focused on results and outcomes, challenging nonprofits to do more with less

Private funders are increasingly requiring measurable results.
Social sector funders are increasingly focused on results and outcomes, challenging nonprofits to do more with less. More and more, philanthropists are requiring that grantees and grant applicants articulate robust “theories of change” and clear measurement strategies that will assess how the theory of change is achieving success.
Governments are shifting towards funding evidence based outcomes.
Governments are increasingly steering funds towards those initiatives able to prove their effectiveness through rigorous, data supported outcomes. The 2014 Federal Budget prioritizes the distribution of social services funding to high‐performing and high‐impact organizations that are committed to evaluating the effectiveness of their work. The White House, federal
agencies, and some states are experimenting with innovation and scaling what works.

The Salvation Army is uniquely positioned to address family poverty, and to respond to the funder call to action

The Army is already present in our communities.
The Army has already achieved scale: It currently works in 1,241 communities across America, and is the second largest nonprofit in the country. The Army has uniquely broad and deep relationships with social services organizations, businesses, civic organizations, and government agencies.
This work fits with the Army’s mission.
Since its founding in 1865, the Army has served as a bridge between families and communities, providing care, hope, and belonging. The Army believes all people have a right to the necessities of life and to economic initiative.
The Army has a long history of successful approaches to pressing social challenges.
The Army is committed to being there to help families and children when times are at their darkest. The Army combines social supports and congregational involvement to build the motivation and capacity of clients to achieve their goals. Last year, the Army continued to see an increase in need, providing assistance to more than 30 million Americans via a variety of programs.

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Importantly, the Army will continue to serve all those that come to us in need. However, Pathway of Hope requires us to be more intentional and focused with our resources to provide targeted services to those that have a desire to take action and change the course of their lives, starting with families with children. This is important because we know that families often face a cycle of recidivism – where families move from crisis to crisis and remain vulnerable. By successfully offering a targeted set of services, rooted in strengths‐based case management, we will help more families truly break the cycle of crisis and achieve stability.

The Strengths Perspective focuses on possibilities rather than problems and strives to identify and develop strengths to assist clients reach their goals and dreams. It is a process of developing a team that includes the client, the case manager, and the community. A caseworker works intensively with a small number of families to help them achieve their short and long‐term goals through collaboration and providing access to community resources

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“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”

Photo

Text

Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Poverty

one family at a time

Video

Pathway of Hope was developed with today’s economic and social contexts in mind:

As poverty increases in America, families are increasingly vulnerable

Social sector funders are increasingly focused on results and outcomes, challenging nonprofits to do more with less

The Salvation Army is uniquely positioned to address family poverty, and to respond to the funder call to action