(Pictured left to right: Haydee Diaz, Yanira Castellano, Rebecca Spinler and Bernard DuPree. Not pictured: Carmen Perez.)
JAMESTOWN, NY – A local program aimed at helping people analyze the impacts of poverty on their lives and develop strategies to build resources for more prosperous lives and to improve our community celebrated several graduates recently.
The “Invest U: Helping You Get Ahead” program is coordinated by The Resource Center in Jamestown, New York and other area partners.
Five graduates, Haydee Diaz, Bernard DuPree, Yanira Castellano, Carmen Perez and Rebecca Spinler, all from Jamestown, were presented with a diploma during a ceremony held at Northwest Arena.
This workshop series supports people with low incomes to build resources and achieve goals on the path to stability. Getting Ahead participants are called investigators. The course calls on them to explore how poverty affects them, then identify and develop resources that will enable them to get ahead in their lives. The local workshop is called Invest U because, by participating in the curriculum, investigators were investing in a better future for themselves and their families.
The end goal is to improve our communities. This is because, as part of the coursework, investigators examined how community institutions measure in areas such as the economy, housing, health care, employment, education, and banking. Those stark assessments revealed where our community did not perform well, providing an opportunity for local leaders to address the gaps.
