{"id":3027,"date":"2022-03-18T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T14:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=3027"},"modified":"2025-05-06T14:50:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T14:50:12","slug":"disrupting-the-cycle-of-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2022\/03\/18\/disrupting-the-cycle-of-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"Disrupting the cycle of poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>We have to solve the issue of poverty, the issue of hunger, the issue of war &#8211; spending billions of dollars to kill rather than to build.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;The late Congressman John R. Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Biblical prophet Jeremiah was called to be an agent in God\u2019s hand, \u2018to uproot, and tear down; to destroy and overthrow; to build and to plant.&nbsp; His main focus lasered in on confronting evil, unmasking fallacies, and refuting cherished beliefs.&nbsp; But his work was also one of encouraging and speaking hope when there appeared to be none in sight.&nbsp; It shows how God calls a person and waits for the man or woman to rise up in helping one another, especially our children.&nbsp; Jeremiah was called to be a prophet and continued in that calling for fifty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1993, the Jeremiah Program was organized by Reverend Michael J. O\u2019Connell, Rector of the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis, in partnership with the Minneapolis city leaders.&nbsp; In 1998, the first campus was opened.&nbsp; A diverse group of community residents became concerned by the increasing numbers of single mothers living in poverty.&nbsp; Not only was systemic racism the root of this malevolent state-of-affairs for a large percentage of BIPOC women, but the lack of educational and career opportunities played a large role.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, through a two-generation impact model, Jeremiah Program, helps single-mothers and their children by offering safe and affordable housing, life skills and confidence-building training, and support for career-track education.&nbsp; They are prepared for the workforce and their dependency on public assistance is minimized.&nbsp; Children have high quality childcare on the campus grounds in an intellectually stimulating environment with age-appropriate classrooms and outdoor playgrounds.&nbsp; Through coaching, empowerment programming, and college coursework, these women are given an opportunity through faithful and generous donors to be of service before poverty becomes a way of life and an endless path of darkness and despair.&nbsp; Campuses are located or in building phases in nine cities &#8211; Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Fargo-Moorhead, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, MN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fact is, more than 40% of children now live in a household struggling just to survive on bare necessities. These circumstances make it difficult for children to learn or be happy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Susima Weerakoon is the Family Service director for the Minneapolis Jeremiah Program campus which is located directly across the street from the Minneapolis Community and Technical Academy.&nbsp; Currently, she works with 20 women and their children.&nbsp; There is a capacity for 40 and recruitment for the fall semester is now in full swing.&nbsp; Due to the two-year COVID19 pandemic, virtual classes are offered along with the choice of living off campus if deemed more feasible.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Weerakoon has worked in the field of human development, specifically early childhood, for over 9 years.&nbsp; Her role with Jeremiah Program is to monitor each mother\u2019s academic and job-related progress and to make sure they are getting the resources they need.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy native Sri Lanka parents immigrated to the U.S. as teens with aspirations of eventually embracing the American dream for themselves and their three children.&nbsp; I know about work ethic and how we must pay it forward and make a difference in our communities while getting to know our neighbors and support our educators and schools,\u201d Weerakoon says.&nbsp; The newlywed and recent North Minneapolis first-time homeowner, said she believes no mother should have to make the untenable choice between investing in herself or supporting her children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mothers who enroll in the program must first complete a 12-week empowerment coaching class while also working towards earning a 2-year associate degree and ultimately transitioning to a 4-year academic institution.&nbsp; They establish career goals, learn valuable life skills such as financial literacy and positive parenting expertise for both mother and child supported by a family coach every other week.&nbsp; Jeremiah Program views empowerment as a place to potently pause, self-reflect, remember the strengths within, discern and consider what\u2019s next on the path forward, and dream boldly in a place where community is forged. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Program participants also learn the realities of inherent and systemic racism that has historically contributed to oppression and poverty.&nbsp; They are provided a strong network of other single mothers, agencies, and partners.&nbsp; \u201cOur intentions are foremost to disrupt the cycle of poverty and the mindset of hopelessness,\u201d said, Weerakoon.&nbsp; \u201cWe have communities of professional support and accessible resources with a shared interest and visions of success.&nbsp; Jeremiah Program is often referred to as a \u2018college persistence program.\u2019&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arreba Haider, a research associate for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress states that child poverty in the U.S. is persistent and structural, but solvable.&nbsp; \u201cThere is agreement that on-the-ground programs such as The Jeremiah Program offers a proven, holistic approach to transform families with their comprehensive, two-generational assistance services, simplifying the access for families in crisis while simultaneously aiming for a better life for their child(ren).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members in the Jeremiah Program must enroll and complete the JP empowerment&nbsp;&nbsp; course; enroll full-time in a collegiate program identified with support from the family services coaches; make satisfactory academic progress maintaining a 2.0 or higher GPA; participate in the Jeremiah Program \u2018Life Skills\u2019 courses and in the J.P. Resident Council; work part time and contribute 30% of earnings to the program; and if not working, volunteering is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeremiah Program envisions a world where poverty is no longer feminized; where race is not divorced from gender; where career and financial opportunities are not gentrified; and where women who experience poverty not only hold a seat at the table but hold the mic and curate the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have to solve the issue of poverty, the issue of hunger, the issue of war &#8211; spending billions of dollars to kill rather than to build.&nbsp;&nbsp;The late Congressman John R. Lewis The Biblical prophet Jeremiah was called to be an agent in God\u2019s hand, \u2018to uproot, and tear down; to destroy and overthrow; to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1994,1184,1995],"class_list":["post-3027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-jeremiah-program","tag-north-minneapolis","tag-poverty","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3028,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions\/3028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}