Pathway to Progress
This week’s blog is written by Jessica McKinney, Executive Assistant, Upstate Family Resource Center In 2020, Upstate Family Resource Center (UFRC) received $15,000 in general operating support to provide safety net services that help families overcome crisis and stabilize financially. This blog will highlight just some of the work UFRC has been doing in the unprecedented year that is 2020 to help families in Spartanburg County thrive.Meet Margaret
Four years ago, life wasn’t terrible for Margaret–it wasn’t great but she was taking care of herself. She was a working single mother of a teenager and just making ends meet. She recently had escaped a domestic violence situation, and was surviving. But. Then the bottom dropped out. First, she had a stroke. This affected her ability to drive, so she soon lost her job. Subsequently, she filed for disability assistance. Unfortunately, in Margaret’s 50+ years, she did not work much so her disability payments are less than $800 each month. To put that into perspective, Margaret should be making about $1,666 each month to simply cover her basic needs. $1,666 would only cover her housing, transportation and food costs. Margaret is receiving less than 50% of the income she needs to be self-sufficient. During this time, Margaret’s 18-year-old daughter becomes pregnant. When her grandchild is born, is became apparent that her daughter was using illicit substances. Margaret filed for custody of her grandchild, which was granted. Soon after, Margaret’s daughter left the area.
Pathway to Progress
Thanks to the partnership with United Way of the Piedmont, Upstate Family Resource Center has been a part of a team of nonprofits working with Dr. Billy Edwards from Clemson University to address behavioral change. Together, we have come up with a plan called Pathway to Progress.Pathway to Progress (P2P) is a look at human behavior and what drives humans to make a change in their lives. This program also looks at UFRC, the assistance agency, and how we can aid a client in making that change. Our team sat down and laid out the WHAT, HOW, and WHY of client engagement. We completely understand that there will be individuals who simply- because of age, disability, legal status, etc.- cannot make a significant change to bring their standard of living to being self-sufficient.