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September 30, 2014
Shawnee, Okla., Army helps people get ahead
As part of a four-fold initiative to address poverty
called Bridges Out of Poverty, the Shawnee, Okla.,
Corps recently graduated 20 students from its pilot
class, “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting’ By World.”
The class focuses on one of the four-pronged
contributors to poverty: individual choices and
behavior. In collaboration with multiple community
partners such as The Neighboring 101 Steering
Committee, the corps was able to provide students
with tools and resources to help them gain
meaningful employment and change their mindsets.
Class graduate Tiffany Walker, who found herself
pregnant and unable to afford basic necessities, said
the course helped her realize her problem wasn’t lack
of money but lack of skills and resources. “The class
provided me with a support of individuals who knew
about the struggle,” she said. “We all had different
stories, but we all had the personal motivation to
change our lives. We just needed the tools.”
Bridges Out of Poverty
pilot class graduates 20
Walker realized she wasn’t a failure, but that the
system behind her plan had failed. She went on to tell
the crowd gathered at graduation that she had landed
a full-time position with the Oklahoma Department of
Human Services.
As originally printed in the Shawnee NewsStar, the community network – comprised of local
government and non-profits – aims at addressing all
four of the contributing factors to poverty. In addition
to individual choices and behavior, factors include
community condition, exploitation and government
policy.
“We’re not here only to celebrate the hard work of
the pilot class participants, which is a really big deal,”
Captain Philip Canning and the Shawnee, Okla., Salvation Army is partnering with other community entities
to help their neighbors break out of the cycle of poverty.
said corps officer Lieutenant Philip Canning. “We’re
also here tonight to celebrate our future story as a
community, as we pursue this initiative.”
youthdownsouth
Dec. 6 set aside for fighting the good fight
By Daynes Crouch
I’ll Fight Day is a Salvation Army
youth servant evangelism day that
will take place all across the world
Saturday, Dec. 6. The day serves as
an opportunity for people to share
the gospel through practical acts
of kindness. The opportunities for
ministry and service are endless and the
goal for the day is for people to show
the love of Christ in practical ways
and identify God at work in their own
communities.
The beauty of I’ll Fight Day is
that it doesn’t only have to happen
on Dec. 6. It can happen on any day
your corps or youth group decides!
I’ll Fight Day can happen in your own
city, neighborhood, corps, local mall,
parking lot, intersection – wherever
you want it to be. Several corps in our
territories will take part in I’ll Fight
Day, and we challenge many more to
step up and take part in serving their
communities. What you do is up to you
– some corps serve hot chocolate, others
participate in neighbor