Stories

You Can't Pull Yourself Up by the Bootstraps if There Aren't Bootstraps to Pull

“Families in our program are the hardest working, most caring parents, not clients. We really get to know them,” Families Forward Founder, Carrie Christian explained to me. “We’re working primarily with the adults in the family for the parents to learn skills, through the workshops they attend and family support they receive, so that they can pass down to their children. They are incredible and our volunteers give so much of their time to others. It’s the hands-on relationship, and it takes time - the impact of what you’re doing - doing with and not for is key in our program.”

Families Forward began in 2017, birthed from research studies, the often-quoted Equal Opportunity Study published in 2015 and then the Leading on Opportunity report prompted further investigation into the siloing of the wealth in our city. 

Christian is a native Charlottean who, like many in our community, “thought my neighbors and the kids I went to school with had the same opportunities. We began looking into where we thought gaps existed and spoke with nonprofit leaders and did our own mini needs-assessment calling schools and guidance counselors to find out what the families and kids in their schools needed. We certainly didn’t want to duplicate services. Speaking to some other community members, seeing what my parents had done for families - we wanted to harvest social capital that we can bring to someone - that makes a huge difference.”

The Leading on Opportunity study revealed that lack of social capital and increase in segregation in Charlotte were cross-cutting factors that caused Charlotte families to have limited opportunities for social mobility.

“When that (Leading on Opportunity report) came out, that gave Families Forward a boost to work with 20 families instead of just a few to start, utilizing a 1-on-1 model, to move forward in mobilizing the community,” Christian said. “We considered how that one-on-one relationship would look. How could we wrap around a family and help them get to a more stable place? We’ve seen a shift in the community - the relational side of giving, the social capital sharing is a must.”

Families Forward is a needs-based organization joining families together through a Family Liaison model. This 1-2 year program teaches, talks with and reaches out to families in order to foster independence and support with the end goal being an economically independent, more stable family structure. Families Forward hopes to serve 50 families by February and 70 families by fall 2021.

Since 2017, 81 families have been connected to family liaisons for help moving toward economic mobility, over 5000 bags of food given to food-insecure families. Over $250,000 has been given and only 25% of the Families Forward operating budget goes to staffing. 

“When I (Christian) started looking into it, I thought I knew what families face. Every day, every week, we find more and more barriers, how hard it is to get housing, apply for needed services, get to food pantries - lacking transportation - etc.. I felt like CLT had a lot to offer, but many families don’t qualify for what’s out there or know how to access those services.”

During December and the holiday season is no exception. Families Forward coordinates a huge Christmas operation. “Families struggle when they may be out of work over the holidays, they can’t work because their children are out of school and now COVID makes that harder. We certainly see an increased need in our families - budget needs increase and then the support they need is ongoing from their family liaison.”

How to help is the question. When asked how we could be more aware of our fellow neighbors, Christian outlined an individual and systemic approach.

“Rather than thinking, ‘Oh, people need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps,’ realistically considering, ‘You can’t pull yourself up by the bootstraps if there aren’t bootstraps to pull!’ We are blind until we are working with a family. There’s poverty all over, but it’s very pocketed. Those with don’t want those without in their community. You don’t see poverty - we don’t want to see it! We have to do a gut check on ourselves. The choices we’ve made and the choices we’re going to make - making choices with a global or more worldly view - not shying away from a school because it doesn’t have the highest ranking. Getting to know other families that are in different situations than mine make it easier for me to make that choice.”

To partner with Families Forward to connect with other families to share social capital, you can apply to be a family liaison. This involves an interview process with 6-hours of training provided before being connected with a family to mentor. There also are items needed on the Families Forward Wish List to help them support families as they have barriers like unexpected transportation costs, healthcare emergency bills, late rent payments, etc. Families Forward encourages you to give to support other families through their annual gala event going virtual - The Hearts for Hope Virtual Campaign during the month of February 2021, so look for more details soon, and for now, it may be time for a gut check, as Christian suggested.

DO GOOD Right Now
You can support Families Forward’s critical work right now in just a few clicks when you vote for this organization to win December's #SpotlightOnCLT $5K courtesy of the Amy and Brian France Foundation- VOTE NOW!