A WIDER CIRCLE INC

A Wider Circle's mission is to end poverty. Our holistic approach integrates on-the-ground services for the creation of stable homes, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization. We also seek to develop large-scale solutions that incorporate greater awareness and engagement by the community. On an average year, with the help of 30,000 volunteers, we serve more than 30,000 children and adults.

A Wider Circle’s Essential Support Program is the only one of its kind, serving individuals, families, and more than 500 other social service agencies – free of charge – across the entire region. In an average year, we provide more than 16,000 individuals each year with items ranging from furniture and home goods to infant and toddler items to professional attire and accessories. These children and adults are transitioning out of homelessness, fleeing domestic abuse, re-entering the workforce, or otherwise living without the essentials for a dignified home environment.

A stable home is often the first step on the journey to independence, but we know that no one gets out of poverty without a job. A Wider Circle’s Workforce Development Program offers job readiness training and individualized coaching on skills such as conflict resolution, time management, emotional intelligence, networking, and financial planning, alongside support with resume writing, interview preparation, and the online job search to some of our region’s most vulnerable populations. Our intensive, individualized support helps job seekers obtain and retain employment, moving towards sustained self-sufficiency.

When an individual gains employment, the entire community benefits – but we know that this is only the beginning. A Wider Circle’s Neighborhood Partnerships Program works directly within high-poverty communities, allowing residents to access all of A Wider Circle’s services from neighborhood-based centers, removing obstacles to participation. We focus on creating greater economic opportunity, improving safety and stability, providing quality of life programming, and empowering residents to advocate for their community, walking alongside them as they revitalize their communities from within. All programs provided through Neighborhood Partnerships are guided by the community residents, including through a Community Advisory Council with whom we meet regularly.

Those we serve are some of our area’s most vulnerable residents. Many are living in entrenched poverty, struggling to obtain substantive employment, or lacking the basics necessary for a stable home environment. Lack of basic need items compromises housing stability, interferes with children's ability to succeed in school, and detracts from adults' success in the workforce.

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, ongoing isolation and lack of access to community resources combined with income loss from lay-offs has meant that those who may have begun to move toward self-sufficiency now find themselves again unable to access basic need items ranging from beds to cleaning supplies to healthy groceries.

At A Wider Circle, we share your commitment to service. Your support will allow us to continue to serve with compassion every day, to think innovatively about how to move the needle nationally, and to turn creative ideas and unrelenting efforts into lasting change for thousands of children and adults living in poverty.