Counting Blessings

COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS
Our cup overflows this week and we want to share the blessings with you and glorify God for encouraging us. Take a minute to read some of the great things that are going on in the Kingdom.

• One Jobs for Life alum just donated $100 to Advance.
• Another alum is volunteering regular shifts at the front desk so that Cindy can complete focused tasks away from the busy-ness of the lobby.
• Our Champions (mentors) had their first meetings with students this week; they'll be with these students for 6-12 weeks. Several Champions told us how God blessed the time and how they look forward to learning and growing during the meetings--as much or more than their students! Students were excited, too. Gwendolyn commented on her connection with her Champion, "Our stories are the same. We're both mothers of daughters. We're the same." We praise God for connections like this.
• Ced Harris was promoted to machine operator at KTG, where he is a permanent employee.
• GED Instructor Mike Shaw's grandparents came and served at Advance this week. Mr. Shaw spent the entire day correcting printer networking issues while Mrs. Shaw used her considerable talents to teach the GED class. We were all blessed to have them with us, and praise God for the gift of family.
• One current student is loving classmates by bringing apples in the morning to share. Many of our class members arrive hungry, so this small thoughtfulness is a big deal.
• A teacher from neighborhood high school BTW attended our Overcoming through Christ (addiction recovery) program this week. She has 22 years sobriety and was a tremendous encouragement to our students and alumni. We thank God for this gift of community.

Note from an Employer and Friend

Sending out our Christmas party invitations always gives us a chance to reconnect with old friends. We were blessed by this message from George Mapson, former Strategic Development Manager at KTG in Memphis. He recently moved away to a new position in Philadelphia, but we were greatly encouraged by his reflection on his time in Memphis.

Good morning Julie,

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this most festive and joyous occasion. Please convey this also to Steve Nash. My heart, however, will be with everyone at Advance Memphis as you all get together to share in your success and recognizing that each step along the journey to where you are now was not an accident, or just "good old luck."

What Advance Memphis has accomplished so far...with even more accomplishments yet to be realized, is truly the Lord's work.

I was working at KTG USA when I got my first exposure to Advance Memphis, one early December morning just before Christmas, at the KTG USA plant, through my now dear friend Craigen [pictured above]. Craigen is an example of what can be done when you put your heart and soul into "making every day better." I realize that things have unfortunately changed now with the relationship between Advance Memphis and KTG USA [fewer temporary positions are available]. The good news is that some Advance Memphis team members are now full time KTG USA team members.

Having left Memphis and now living in Philadelphia, I can truly say that my greatest personal learning during my 3 years in Memphis came from the Advance Memphis team and students I came in contact with.

I wish everyone at Advance Memphis a very blessed Christmas and a prosperous 2012 that enables Advance Memphis to continue to thrive and be a beacon of hope for your community.

George Mapson

Mercy Loans Successful at Advance

Memphis is the poorest metro area in the United States.

38126 is the poorest urban zip code in Tennessee.

Given those stats, it might be easy to make assumptions about the people who live here. One that would seem obvious is this: people in this neighborhood are quick to borrow money and slow to pay it back.

We wouldn't fault you for assuming this. We did. But you know what's beautiful? We were wrong.

We've offered Mercy Loans to our graduates for many years. These loans are meant to address an immediate, felt need and to help the graduate avoid the pitfall of payday loans at usurious interest rates. For the last 2 years, we've carefully tracked our Mercy Loan Data. Below are the statistics for 2011, which clearly prove that our grads repay that which they borrow. Their repayment allows us to "recycle" the funds, ensuring that other grads are able to benefit from Mercy Loans.

In short, because our grads are faithful in repaying, a mere $1500 has done all the work you see below. Read and be encouraged!

MERCY LOAN DATA: 2011

Mercy Loan budget: $1500 dollars to be rotated through repayment of loans.

Number of loans made in 2011: 128.

Average loan amount: $87.00.

Number of loans repaid, year to date: 106, paid in full.

Number of loans defaulted: 9.

Number of times we have revolved our loan pool:
7.4 times...that's $11,120!

But Why Phase 2?

NOTE: Page down for a "Post Script" on the recent success of the Phase 2 program.

Our educational and employment teams worked together to develop Phase 2, a new program that gives our Jobs for Life students the opportunity to begin working while continuing their job readiness training and/or their GED preparation. Below, Education Coordinator Michael Rhodes explains the philosophy behind the program that was implemented late this summer.

Phase 2 grad and Warehouse Readiness student Jenny Williams
with Warehouse instructor Mike Shaw.

Because Advance Memphis has always been committed to people before programs, whenever we add a new program the question needs to be asked: “Why another program?” With Phase 2, the answer is easy: P2 is a program centered on people.

But first, the “what.” Phase 2 gives Jobs for Life graduates the opportunity to come back one day a week for six weeks after they graduate. Each Wednesday they return to meet with their Champions, discuss work issues with Walter Jackson, our Employment Support Specialist, and receive training on a number of key life issues that affect one’s work life. These topics include Leadership, Creative Solutions, Healthy Relationships, and others, some of which have been covered in the Jobs for Life class and are reemphasized again in P2, and some of which are new. P2 is flexible, so if a student wants more, they get more. Students who need their GEDs come an additional three mornings a week for class. Students who are struggling with addiction have the opportunity to attend an afternoon support group.

The entire program is also offered to older graduates who have been terminated from Advance Memphis Staffing and need further training in order to be able to return to work (the Restore and Renew track). The entire P2 program is designed so that JFL graduates can work part-time and attend Advance classes part-time.

Now the “why.” First and foremost, adults learn by doing. P2 gives grads an opportunity to hear again some of the most important lessons from JFL, and then go out and apply those concepts on the job the next day. When we talk about conflict in the workplace in P2, quite a number of students sitting in those chairs are currently involved in some sort of conflict on the job. This “applied learning” means that students really digest the critical material.

Phase 2 students take a GED locator test.

Second, the transition from a warm, encouraging, supportive environment where a student is loved and cared for from 9-3 five days a week for six weeks to the real world challenges of working can be DIFFICULT. Many of our grads have never had a job before. Others haven’t had one in a long time. For these grads, entering the daily grind after 5 weeks of dreaming about their career goals can be tough. P2 gives our grads the opportunity to ease their way into the workforce, while establishing a pattern of relational engagement with Advance.

Third, P2 means that our students get 11 meetings with their Champions instead of just 5! Already we’ve gotten rave reviews on the added time from participants and students alike. Champions are “championing” their groups’ cause at Advance and throughout the city by making hospital visits, babysitting, grabbing lunch, making phone calls, praying with and for their group members and MORE. One of the most exciting things that happens at Advance every week is the real world racial reconciliation that happens when folks from outside this neighborhood and culture build real relationships with people from this neighborhood. We’re seeing stereotypes die, compassion grow, and true Christian fellowship leading students and Champions deeper in their walk with Christ.

Fourth and finally, Jobs for Life grads ALWAYS ask for MORE. At the end of every JFL class we give an opportunity for feedback, and every class calls for more time at Advance! P2 is therefore Advance’s best effort to respond to a real request from our community.

But all of this MORE also means that we need MORE HELP! P2 means more GED tutors, more Champions, more lunch providers, and more donations. But the investment is already paying off with more GEDs, more jobs, more relationships of reconciliation, and more lives changed. We praise God for the energy and excitement surrounding P2, and we pray that many more lives will be changed through this exciting new program.

POST SCRIPT

The "Restore and Renew" portion of Phase 2 has done more than we could "ask or imagine." Not only have terminated grads returned to work, but 2 of these (Derrick, pictured at left and Rafael, not pictured) have been hired as permanent employees at KTG.

Marcus Stone's Graduation Speech

Marcus Stone wrote down his thoughts to share at his Jobs for Life graduation last Friday. Above, he's pictured at left being congratulated by his classmates after giving a moving account of his experiences at Advance.

Marcus agreed to let us share his speech here.

"I would like to thank the Lord first for guiding me to Advance Memphis because I think this was a great experience for me. This really helped me make a change because it put me around positive people and helped me mentally. It helped keep me on the right track spiritually. I learned that the decision I make now will affect my future, either positively or negatively. I want to make good decisions now so that I can have a good future for myself and especially for my daughter, Mariyah.

I do understand that I am on the right track now, and that it would be easy to veer off at any time. But I have also learned to put the Lord first and to guide me in the right direction to stay on my positive track. I understand that I have a sinful nature and that I have sinful ways, but I pray that the Lord would help keep me on the right path.

I have learned a whole lot of stuff. I have learned a lot of spiritual things. Before I came to Advance Memphis I was veering away from the Lord. I always knew that I wanted a relationship with the Lord but I always kept straying away from him, but I have learned that this is because of my sinful nature. I have learned that God has always been faithful to me even when I was not faithful to him. He forgives me and calls me back to a good life with him because his mercies are new every morning.

I have learned not to stop with my high school diploma, but to add even more education. I know that even though I have roadblocks and my background may limit me, I have learned to keep going. I want to encourage my classmates to do the same. God’s Word says that he has a good plan for our lives. I don’t want us to forfeit that plan, so let’s accept his grace on our lives and work hard to accomplish our goals for our futures.

I’d like to thank Andrew who is not here at this time, the Advance Memphis staff, Danielle, and my classmates for being positive, encouraging people around me."

Marcus Stone

Jobs for Life graduate

How Individual Development Accounts Bring Hope

The way poverty is defined will dictate the appropriate response to impoverished households. If poverty is a lack of physical goods or money, then the answer is to simply give the individual things or money. If poverty is defined by a lack of education or improper thinking, then the answer is to give individuals information. If poverty is just a lack of opportunity, then the answer is to give people access–to employment, education, financial services, etc. Obviously, the problem is that poverty is not easily typified. It is complex, and its manifestations vary, often drastically, from context to context. Kenyan poverty looks much different than poverty in Memphis. However, both are real, and both are devastating.

As a Christian organization, Advance Memphis is deeply concerned about justice. We therefore find statistics like the following to be extremely disturbing:

Wolff, E. N. (2007). Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States: Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze. Working Paper No. 502. The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. New York University.

If this were simply a monetary issue, it would be bad enough. But this growing disparity betrays some serious problems over the past 50 years. Behavioral economists suggest that incentives play a large part in facilitating the accumulation of assets. The middle and upper classes have access to incentives that the poor do not, such as tax incentivized retirement savings and the home mortgage interest tax deduction. According to the Center for Social Development at Washington University 90% of the benefits from these two tax policies go to households earning more than $50,000. Moreover, because of means-tested public assistance programs, there is a disincentive for poor households to build assets. This leaves them more likely to remain stuck in poverty.

Assets play four key roles in the life of every household. They:

1. provide a buffer against economic shocks, like job loss;

2. generate income;

3. generate more assets;

4. affect future outlook and thus current behavior.

The first three roles are fairly self explanatory. However, the final role has some unique implications. Think about it. If you have a good bit of home equity, some non-liquid financial assets, a good education, a car, college savings for your children and a retirement plan, how do you feel about the future? That question may be hard to answer and depend on other things going on in your life. However, it is certain that you feel better about the future than you would if you were in the same situation and had none of these assets. These assets provide hope of future economic survival, even thriving. And if “tomorrow” looks good, you are less likely to make choices today that endanger that future. However, if the future is bleak, your time horizons shorten and you become more focused immediate gratification.

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) allow Advance Memphis to address a number of these issues at once. There is an incentive (the match) for individuals to save and create assets. But the goal is more than mere asset creation. If you have assets, but lack the knowledge to manage them well, they won’t do you much good. That is why, in order to be eligible, an individual must first graduate from the Jobs for Life Program which includes financial literacy education, and work for two months. Graduates then they have to save for at least six months before a withdrawal can be made. This program structure provides an opportunity to fuse knowledge and practice. When those come together, savers develop new long-run behaviors, which in the long term are much, much more valuable than $2,000.

brandon@advancememphis.org

Thoughts on a Friend's Life

At Advance, we hear a lot of life stories. The act of telling life stories is part of our Jobs for Life curriculum, and it's one of the most important ways that we build relationships in class, and begin developing the bonds of trust that are essential to the effectiveness of class. A lot of the stories we hear at Advance are tragic. Sometimes they're horrifying. We have no interest in exploiting our friends by dramatizing their lives and bandying their stories about for maximum impact.

But it's important to remember that we all have stories. When you see behavior that shocks you, it's rooted in a story. When you see anger that seems over the top, it's rooted in a story. Stories are not excuses, but they are reasons—and they are a part of us, as much as any physical attribute.

And so we bring you a story. One of many, but one that we think will touch your heart and remind all of us to see our neighbors for what they are: people with stories—and children of the King—a King who is bigger than our stories.

A Student's Story, In Her Own Words:

“As a kid growing up I was what you call a military bart (sic) My father was in the marines so we traveled from one place to another by the time I turned ten my mother had left my father and moved us to Memphis to stay with my grandmother [.] By the time I turned fourthteen (sic) my parents had divorced [.] During the divorce my mom began to use drugs crack cocaine so she sent me to stay with my father because she could no longer take care of me and my siblings [.] As time pasted (sic) my father remarried to his now wife of twenty years [.]

Now I’ve turned sixteen I was walking home from basketball practice I was attacked by five boys who kidnapped me they beat me and brutalty (sic) raped for three days not knowing if I would live or die I prayed that someone would come to my rescue [.]By the grace of God a homeless man found me laying in this abandon house laying in my own blood not knowing if I were dead or alive he kneeled down and touch my lifeless body he picked me up and took me to the nearest house where this elderly lady stayed who took me and called the police when they arrived I couldn’t see them because my eyes were swallowen (sic) but I could hear them say this the missing girl that we’ve been looking for [.] I was taken to the hospital where I stayed for two weeks while my body heeled my mom was at my beside (sic) praying to God that I get better [.]

Once I was released from the hospital I tired (sic) to commit suicide I tried to scrub my skin off my body because I felt so dirty and nasty during this [.] I had a nervous brake down which called to be hospitalized for months I’ve been stained for life thru this all this have made me cold hearted as hell [.] Andrew [Jobs for Life Instructor] this is my life story!!!!”

Andrew's Reponse:

I found the above homework assignment on my desk yesterday. Students were asked to draw or write out their life stories and prepare to share them with the rest of the class. When I read this note I closed the door to my office and crawled under my desk, where no one could see me through the window. As I hid from everyone else, I wept uncontrollably. This wasn’t the only terrible thing I had heard this week, but it was the last straw. Earlier someone else had told me she had arrived at her children’s father’s house with a gun in her purse ready to kill him, when she received a text message from me: “come to school.” I was stunned. My “random” text message prevented a murder as well as a dear friend from losing everything, including her 3 young children plus the unwanted child growing in her womb, for a life of prison. This same woman has had two teenage family members murdered in the past few months. She held one of them as they slowly died from the bullet wound. Coincidentally, I know the murderer—he was someone who I had been trying to help "escape the streets." There have been too many horror stories this week.

So now I meditate on the painful reality of life this side of heaven. This is a reality I never knew existed. Growing up, it seemed that everyone had a father to protect them. I thought everyone had a mother to love and affirm them. I didn’t know there was a different America—one where stories like the ones above are the norm, not the shocking exception. I think I need to be sobered to reality. Everything inside of me screams out to God, “why NOT me?” The life I’ve experienced so far is so radically different from the lives of my new friends. Why? It’s not fair! It’s not fair that my life has been handed to me, while my friends have only known such horrendous struggle.

Back to my friend’s homework. The last sentence haunts me the most. “Andrew this is my life story!!!!” Why does her story end at age 16? My friend is 39! What about the other 23 years of her life? What about her dropping out of high school? What about the abusive boyfriend who she feels like she can’t leave? What about her criminal background and her inability to find stable work? Now I get it. “Andrew this is my life story!!!!” Her story ends at age 16 because she has had no hope that her future will ever be anything different. The subsequent 23 years of her life have simply been an extension of the defining experiences of her childhood.

Now I wonder about this year and the next. I wonder about the next 39 years of her life. Will they also be defined by the quarantined experiences of life in the ghetto? My friend has heard the good news of the Kingdom of Jesus told in various ways nearly every day of the past month. She is also receiving free professional Christian counseling through our services. She is being told that Jesus wants to remove all of her shame; that her heavenly Father wants to comfort and embrace his beloved daughter; and that the Holy Spirit wants to give her a new life and a new identity where the old has truly passed away, and behold, new things have come. I wonder if she’ll accept this message. I wonder if she will experience true healing from all her disappointments in life. I wonder if she will believe in herself, and in her inherent value as one of God’s image bearers. I wonder if she’ll gain enough hope for her future to be one of the few adults who complete their GED. If she doesn’t, she won’t have the opportunity to pursue her dream of getting a trade from the nearby community college.


Because of the friends I've made at Advance, I am forever changed—some might say ruined. I know I can never return to the life I once knew, but I am so thankful for my new relationships. I am glad that I’m no longer blind to the injustices of our world and to my selfishness, which is daily being exposed. Like a magnetic force, I feel compelled to stop pouring myself out for my own comfort and luxury and to begin pouring myself out for the benefit of others. I don’t know what it is about identifying with other people’s brokenness, but somehow God is using it in my life to make the scriptures alive again, to give the gospel new power, and to confirm that the Christian calling of sacrificial service is an exciting and joyful calling. Like never before I pray with Jesus: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Andrew Vincent
Jobs for Life Program Coordinator
andrew@advancememphis.org