On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, Executive Director Stacie Strotman will lead a virtual discussion referencing Dr. Ruby K. Payne's A Framework for Understanding Poverty.

Mentors often work with youth who are experiencing poverty, either directly or indirectly. This session will help volunteer mentors learn to assist student mentees with implementing cognitive strategies and actions to be successful in life.

A Framework for Understanding Poverty teaches the hidden rules of economic class and spreads the message that, despite the obstacles poverty can create in all types of interaction, there are specific strategies for overcoming them. When viewed through an economic lens, poverty can be defined as an absence of resources. Since 1995, Framework's basic premise is that the middle-class understandings of those who work with children and adults in poverty are often ill-suited for connecting with and helping people build up resources and rise out of poverty.

During the offered session, Strotman will share with mentors the greater emphasis on the thinking, community, and learning patterns involved in breaking out of poverty; more detailed findings about interventions, resources, and causes of poverty; and a review of the outlook for people in poverty—and those who work with them.

If you are interested in attending this virtual session from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 4, please email Natalie Westkamp for an official invitation with meeting link. The session is focused on mentors; however, other community members are invited to attend.