Community Progress Council (CPC) was started as an initiative of the war on poverty in 1965 and has been on the front lines helping people rise out of poverty. In 2018, YCCF’s Fund for York County awarded a multi-year grant for CPC to implement an economic self-sufficiency program based on a successful model that starts with participants investigating how poverty affects their lives and their community and teaches them how to develop a plan to get ahead.
In Phase 2 of the program, participants work intensively with a self-sufficiency coach to implement their plan and overcome the barriers in their way. As participants begin to earn income and their public assistance decreases, CPC helps to bridge the financial gap and keep them on track. Eventually, participants become financially stable and independent of assistance.
Across York County, 94 families have participated in Phase 1 of the program, with 14 moving on to Phase 2. CPC’s self-sufficiency program changes the course of lives not just through financial stability but also by helping people find their voice and seeing themselves as valuable members of our community.
One client shared “I felt like I became an independent mother because I was able to make money for my children. I’m off of assistance and teaching my children how to be self-sufficient.”
Now that’s what we call progress!
