Getting Ahead graduate Samantha Covington said when she started attending her Getting Ahead session a few months ago she felt stuck. Her husband lost his job during the pandemic and started his own business repairing motors & transmissions. She owns a catering business, but with two kids, ages 4 and 6, they needed help, and not just financially. 

“I needed room for growth and in the group my biggest thing was definitely social capital for myself. I needed help networking, I needed a support system,” she said. “You kind of shut yourself off. I didn’t know where to start. Getting Ahead pushed me out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t really super in poverty but I grew up in it and I just felt like there’s more to poverty than what you imagine.”

She’s right! During Getting Ahead sessions, participants like Samantha discuss 11 resources that we each need to thrive: financial, emotional, mental/cognitive, language, social capital, physical, spiritual, integrity & trust, motivation & persistence, relationships/role models and knowledge of hidden rules. Poverty isn’t just about money, which is often the first thing people think of when talking about instability.

Samantha said through Getting Ahead she’s found many friendships and has increased her resources. She’s even completed the first goal she set for herself after the 8-week Getting Ahead group ended: become a notary. She wanted another source of income and she and her mom (also a Getting Ahead grad!) both completed this goal. She’s attending the follow-up Advocates for Change group and signing up for workshops offered by Common Heart to work toward earning $500 in a savings account as part of our Emergency Savings Incentive Program. 

If you’re thinking about applying for Getting Ahead, Samatha says… “just do it!”

“Just keep an open mind. I didn’t know if Getting Ahead was for me but it was,” she said. “I definitely recommend it and I’ve told lots of people about it. It’s worth taking a risk.”