Food Bank of Lincoln Offers Lens for Understanding Poverty

For people living in poverty, there is no one quick fix to gaining financial stability. Food Bank of Lincoln is working with the community to change perceptions through their program, Bridges Out of Poverty.

The multi-dimensional program aims to raise awareness and understanding about the mindset and barriers faced by individuals in the daily struggles that poverty is likely to bring and provides a lens for those who have not experienced these kinds of barriers to understand the obstacles those in poverty face.  The classes help community groups, employers, and corporate donors to better understand poverty so they can help under-resourced individuals in a practical way.

“Many individuals who are running programs and creating procedures at an agency or business have said they have gained empathy and understand the perspective of those experiencing poverty,” said Alynn Sampson, Youth and Family Programs Director at the Food Bank of Lincoln. “They see how easy it can be for us to jump to unfair conclusions about why or how individuals get into a particular situation.”

Lincoln Community Foundation provided a grant to help fund and expand the program. Through this curriculum-based program, Food Bank of Lincoln was able to train 679 individuals.

Bridges Out of Poverty also works with under-resourced individuals directly through another curriculum called, Getting Ahead in a Just-Getting’-by World. These weekly classes develop individuals’ ability to reduce barriers, establish a positive social support structure, and build a future plan. Getting Ahead also partners with Community Learning Centers and trained 50 individuals since the program started.

Employers are offered Workplace Stability Training which focuses on ways to improve turnover rates by increasing an employee’s stability. This helps employers see that when life outside of work is stable, work life is more efficient.

Understanding the lives and challenges of people in poverty can be extremely challenging. Through Bridges Out of Poverty, Food Bank of Lincoln is working with the community to change the mindset to improve lives for people in poverty, and thus strengthen our entire community.