The Pathway of Hope program takes people from vulnerability to sustainability, says the Salvation Army.
In Lloydminster, the effort involves identifying people who come to the Food Bank for weekly hampers and helping them to take the next steps in their life’s journey.
Tiffany Frank, program coordinator says, “Pathway of Hope is a program for those who are in the cycle of poverty and want to move forward with dignity and achieve goals that they will set for themselves.”
Frank works with people she senses want to move forward in their lives. They are free to take up the offer to join the program. In the six years that the program has been in Lloydminster, she says they have graduated eight people.
“If they choose yes, we will go through a series of assessments and determine whether they are in pre-contemplative, contemplative, or action mode for moving forward with their lives. From there, we will set up goals and action plans and I will work with them as a resource person.”
She sees her role as a cheerleader for the client as they choose a new path and take the steps to achieve their goals.
“They set up step-by-step things about what they are going to do to be able to achieve those goals. We won’t proceed to the next step until they have completed those plans. Oftentimes it’s doing things that they have been putting off for a long time or are intimidating to them.”
She says, “It’s emotionally, physically, and mentally draining for them, which is the case with anybody trying to move forward from a place they have been stuck in. So, that’s why the cheerleading is important.”
Some of the goals could be from needing a vehicle, to getting a better job, or even looking at a career in social work and Frank says they will find out the education requirements and even go with them to interviews at Lakeland College or other institutions.
“It depends on what they want to accomplish. It can be something we can accomplish in three months or a social work degree which takes four years. So, we don’t like to put a time frame on it, it’s really what they would like to set.”
The eight people who have graduated from the program have not had to return to the food bank, says Frank as they have achieved what they needed to become self-sufficient.
“I can think of one lady who did the program. When she first came in, she would come with her head down and she would look at the ground until she got to the office to talk with her case worker. I have watched her blossom into this amazing woman now. When you can see someone just blossom and open up. It just gives validity to the program. And it gives validity to her. She worked hard for what she got, and it shows.”
More information on Pathway to Hope can be obtained by contacting the Lloydminster Salvation Army.
