Program helps graduates 'CAP' poverty

SANDPOINT — No one wore a gown or threw a cap at Community Action Partnership’s Circles graduation ceremony Tuesday, but the atmosphere was just as jovial.

Officiated by  Circles community liaison Shirley Paulison, the ceremony was the culmination of the free 16-session course “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting By World”, designed to help its participants obtain the necessary skills, resources and knowledge to work their way out of poverty.

“The course is all about helping students take a look at their personal situation, look at the community and formulate a strategy for obtaining financial stability,” Paulison said.

Having completed the class, graduates can now be matched up with members in the community who can help them in their efforts to maintain a consistent income.

“These aren’t mentors that we’re matching them up with,” Paulison said. “They’re more like allies. The idea is to help our participants build up the social capital that they need to succeed in this community.”

The graduation evening began at the United Methodist Church, where the religiously-unaffiliated Circles group holds their weekly two-and-a-half hour meetings. After a sloppy joe dinner, the graduates, their families and other onlookers gathered in the sanctuary for the ceremony. Each of the graduates — Graham Glines, Rachel Silva, Thelen Paulk, Shelly and Jim Kenworthy, Steve and Wesley Hammond and Paul and Apryl Dionne — reflected on the course and their hopes for the future. They talked about the tyranny of the moment, the overwhelming feeling of having one unresolved crisis pile on top of another. However, the group all said they left the class feeling collectively empowered.

“We found that we all shared a common dream to not only better ourselves, but also better those around us,” Apryl Dionne said.

The graduates all fostered an cheerful, upbeat attitude, and the evening featured plenty of humor. The Hammonds’ turn at the microphone especially scored laughs with their tongue-in-cheek reminders for pursuing success.

“We use a lot of humor around here,” Wesley Hammond said. “When you’re poor you can’t afford much else.”

But it was the Kenworthy kids that stole the show.

“I just want to say yahoo for my family,” daughter Gracie said.

Not to be outdone, younger son Junior grabbed the microphone. He kept his statement brief: “I love my mommy.”

Community Action Partnership’s Circles program is their local and national strategy for assisting Americans in poverty. They offer the Getting Ahead class twice a year. Paulison says she always leaves the course with fond memories, and this time was no exception.

“It was my pleasure to spend 16 weeks with these guys,” she said. “They’re funny and outrageous, and I know they’re going to do great.”

 To donate or volunteer for Circles, contact Shirley Paulison at 255-2910, 946-7780 or s.paulison@cap4action.org