Getting Ahead in the Valley

A Bridges Out of Poverty Program
About the Program  |  How It Works  |  How You Can Help  |  Sponsors

Congratulations
2020 Getting Ahead in the Valley Class
on your Graduation!

We're proud of the nine participants who graduated from the Getting Ahead in the Valley on October 3 and wish them every success. We applaud the work and dedication of participants, staff and volunteers. Bravo! Another class is currently delayed due to COVID-19 regulations. 

About Bridges Out of Poverty and Getting Ahead
Getting Ahead in the Valley is based on the Bridges Out of Poverty model—a framework for understanding poverty through the lens of economic class and addressing it in a comprehensive way.

Bridges Out of Poverty asks all sectors of the community―business, nonprofit, education, local governments, etc.―to come to the table, while engaging those living in poverty as problem solvers.

The Bridges program is designed to help communities:
  • move individuals from poverty to self-sufficiency
  • reduce social costs related to crime, poor health, and welfare
  • strengthen educational attainment and job skills
  • enhance economic development
  • improve on-the-job productivity
  • revitalize neighborhoods
  • and build sustainable communities where everyone can live well.
Getting Ahead is a hands-on, 16-week, group workshop designed to help those living in poverty create their own plan for a sustainable life.

How the Getting Ahead Program Works


Our first Getting Ahead in the Valley workshop began in Milton, and we hope to begin a second workshop when COVID 19 discontinues being a threat to safety. 
Getting Ahead in the Valley is a 16-week group workshop that helps participants stabilize their situations and build resources to improve their lives.

The program guides participants through the process of assessing their own lives and circumstances and teaches them how to build those resources and how to develop tools and skills as part of their move to self-sufficiency.

Getting Ahead participants create their own plan for a sustainable life, build healthy relationships with others, set short- and long-term goals, and develop a step-by-step plan to achieve those goals.

Once goals are set, participants are matched with a volunteer ally who walks alongside them as they build a stable life. 

Transportation and childcare are available if needed. A meal at each meeting is also included.
In Getting Ahead workshops, participants will
  • establish their own achievable short- and long-term goals
  • develop a step-by-step plan to achieve those goals
  • explore resources needed for sustainability
  • build healthy relationships with others
  • improve financial skills
  • and begin the process of writing their own future story.
To be clear, the Getting Ahead process does not provide answers or make any argument for change. Motivation, insight, and planning come solely from the participants. This is a kitchen-table experience—not a classroom.

Sponsors of Getting Ahead in the Valley

and

​The 1994 Charles B. Degenstein Foundation

for being our principle sponsors!
Thanks, too, to these sponsors who have also contributed to this important and exciting program!
  • Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
  • ​CommUnity Zone​
  • Diane Donato
  • Giant Food Store
  • ​Helen Nunn & friends in memory of Caroll Blank
  • Kelly RV Inc. 
  • Lewisburg Council of Churches
  • ​St Paul's United Methodist Church
  • ​TIME — The Improved Milton Experience
  • ​Walmart, Inc
  • And so many more people from our community.