BY MICHELLE KEY
EDITOR@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA — Circles of Opelika, a local nonprofit, is working to changes lives in the local community. Led by the PRF Teaching Ministry and its founder, Dr. Nate Dunlap Jr., Circles and PRF hope to lead hundreds of people out of poverty and into financial stewardship.
Circles website states that it is uniquely designed to reduce poverty by helping low-income individuals expand their social capital while bringing the community together in solidarity to reduce the barriers to keeping people in poverty.
It accomplishes this by aligning its participants — called Circle Leaders — with allies that provide both friendship and support throughout the program.
Circles hosted an informational meeting Monday, Sept. 16.
Kevin Lunsford from Circles Opelika, stated that Opelika has a 17.4% poverty rate. The state average is 15%.
“We are very fortunate that Circles is in our community because it is an organization that directly helps people in poverty,” Lunsford said. “Circles has a model that is very unique and to me — it is a model that is very extraordinary how it works.”
He explained there are three things that make it work:
- Finding people who are motivated in changing their lives. These are the Circle Leaders.
- Providing effective training. Everyone who goes through Circles program receives 12 weeks of classes to help them identify their goals and develop plans with real tools to help accomplish those goals.
- Pairing the participants with people in the community. These individuals are the Allies that will walk beside them through this journey out of poverty.
Statistics from the national Circles organization show that those who complete the program and stick with it show a 71% increase [on average] in their income after 18 months.
Valarie Canady, affectionally known as Grandma Val of Grandma Val’s Lemonade, spoke during the meeting about her experience with Circles.
“I am a graduate of Circles, the 2019 class — the very first one,” Canady said. “I think the most impactful moment for [me] was experiencing the ‘Cliff Effect’ in my own life.”
The Cliff Effect occurs when a pay raise at work triggers a disproportionate loss of government assistance. Even a small raise can “push people off the cliff” when it comes to benefits. Suddenly ineligible for subsidized food, housing, healthcare or childcare, the family is worse off than before receiving the raise.
Canady said it’s painful to let go of things you might be used to doing, but you have to take that step.
“That’s when you let go of all the stuff that you thought you knew, but you didn’t know,” she said. “If you’re in the system and you feel this mindset… you have to decide, ‘I’m not gonna go there and let them help pay for my utilities because I’m gonna have to do it myself.’ You have to deprogram your mindset. That was the most impactful part — to see and know that I was doing it. That’s how I lived, just in the moment. Most of the bills got paid; the kids were fed, they were okay, and that was the end of life. That was it.
“I’m transparent,” Canady said. “There’s no shame in my game. I’m 64 years old, and now I’m squeezing lemons into a legacy for my grandbabies, and I’m enjoying life.”
Barbara Griffin, another graduate of the program, also shared her thoughts on Circles.
“I’m the class of 2020,” Griffin said. “I was paired with Miss Linda Morris, who is my favorite person in my whole world. She is not only my ally, but she’s a very good friend of mine. Her leadership has been immaculate — the things that she has shown me, the time she has taken with me to help me in all areas.
“When I joined circles, I was in a difficult space,” Griffin said. “In fact, it was hard for me to answer my phone, because there were so many people pounding me for money that I owed them. But I can say today I am actually debt free.”
Dunlap explained how he became involved in Circles Opelika.
“So I [was] in Virginia probably about 2018, and Regina Meadows asked me to speak at the first gathering before they actually started their cohort or what we call cohorts now,” he said. “[Later], I decided to go to a meeting see what it was about. We knew that we offer services at PRF that would be beneficial to Circle Leaders. We knew that there was going to be budgeting to come up in the 12 weeks of training, so I said, ‘I’ll go and see how they do budgeting and then we can find out what we want to insert in there.’ It was at that meeting, Regina was teaching budgeting and then she had them doing an exercise at their tables. After the exercise she asked everybody to share.
“This woman [Canady] stood up and she started crying, tears started rolling down her face, and she said, ‘I’m just now realizing I am in poverty.’ But that’s the moment. There always is gonna be this ‘ah ha’ moment. And that was the moment for me.”
Dunlap said he has a goal for Circles Opelika to serve 175 families over the next three years.
To learn more about the program, to volunteer or to complete an application to receive services, visit www.CirclesOpelika.org, call (334) 759-4884 or email Admin@circlesopelika.org.
