WATCH: These powerful stories show why we need to share the Success Sequence each and every day

by David Bass | Jun 9, 2022

WATCH: These powerful stories show why we need to share the Success Sequence each and every day

Key Points

All young people — not just those who come from rich families — deserve to know this “secret to success”: get an education, work hard, get married, and then have children.
No matter the challenges young people face, there is a path to build a bright future — through the Success Sequence.
Institute for Family Studies has shared 3 powerful videos that show the face and opportunity brought by the Success Sequence.

The Success Sequence and its impact

“The choice of having children too early is one you’ll have to play catch up with for the rest of your life.”

“I wish that I had made some different decisions when I was young. Think before you act. Definitely be intentional about the decisions you’re making at that age, because they do have a lasting effect on your life.”

“Having to get food donated to us was the bottom of my life.”

Those are just a few of the powerful quotes contained in the narrative stories — called Straight Talk About the Success Sequence — in a series of new videos on the Success Sequence from the Institute for Family Studies.

The basic premise of this campaign is simple: All young people — not just those who come from rich families — deserve to know this “secret to success”: get an education, work hard, get married, and then have children.

As you know, the Success Sequence is a powerful and proven way for even the most disadvantaged men and women to avoid poverty and to have a shot at the stable, happy family life they really want.

The Success Sequence:
His Story

Part One: Men

The numbers prove it all

Statistics show that 97% of young people who follow these steps are not poor later in life, and fully 85% of them enter the middle class.

Can it really be that simple? That’s what’s so great about the Success Sequence: The answer is simple, but the key is to get the information to young people at the right time.

No matter the challenges young people face, there is a path to build a bright future — through the Success Sequence.

It’s organizations like the Georgia Center for Opportunity that are bringing the truth of the Success Sequence to young people every day. Whether it’s GCO’s work to expand educational options for all students, bring career opportunities to the impoverished, or bringing relationship enrichment classes to local communities, we are on the front lines. The Institute for Family Studies recognizes this.

The Success Sequence:
Her Story

Part Two: Women

“The Success Sequence is only effective as a concept if it’s shared in practical ways with young people,” said Brad Wilcox, senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. “On-the-ground organizations like the Georgia Center for Opportunity play a key role in this. Our young people deserve to know about their potential to take hold of the American Dream.”

Please share these important videos on social media, with your friends and family, and with young people in your life who need to hear this important message. We need to spread the word on the Success Sequence so that other young people don’t face the same struggles in life faced by Scott, Stephanie, and Caylie and Carlos.

The Success Sequence:
Their Story

Part Three: Cohabitation

Better Work Providing On-Site Unemployment Assistance

by Kristin Baker | Jun 6, 2022

Better Work Providing On-Site Unemployment Assistance

Key Points

BETTER WORK Columbus is launching a new service allowing us to assist clients on-site.
BETTER WORK provides connections to local resources and work opportunities.
Listening and responding to the needs of our community is how BETTER WORK better serves those in need.

Client assistance just got a little bit better

BETTER WORK Columbus is now able to assist clients on-site. We enjoy assisting our non-profit partners and helping them connect clients with employment. This is a new dimension of our work and is proving to be very helpful to non-profit organizations in Columbus and the surrounding area. Our non-profit partners who are focused on providing resources like housing, food, or assistance with utilities know that their clients also need the stability that comes with work. Meeting their clients on-site is a way for BETTER WORK to allow them to focus on their lane while we leverage our existing resources to help with the employment connection.

“Home for Good is partnering with BETTER WORK Columbus to help formerly homeless clients obtain and sustain employment so they can end their cycle of poverty,” said Terry Gallops, Home for Good Director. “Kristin Barker, BETTER WORK Program Manager, has been very successful in fulfilling this need by helping our clients as they complete applications and establish contact with potential employers. We are exceptionally pleased with the success of the BETTER WORK program, and several of our clients now have substantial employment!”

For Latesha, finding work was more than a paycheck. It helped her start a life journey that had meaning and purpose.

Meeting the need

Kristin recently shared why this is so important. “We enjoy meeting people where they are and where the need exists. It is in these spaces where we can learn more from each other and connect in new ways that will make all groups and all people in our community more successful. It’s a pleasure to help people like James who are looking for an opportunity to improve their lives by earning a steady income.”

If you are a non-profit and would like to take advantage of the support and tools that BETTER WORK has to offer, send an email to kristin.barker@georgiaopportunity.org and start a conversation today!

Jobs For Life Collaborates With BETTER WORK in Columbus

by Kristin Baker | May 31, 2022

Jobs For Life Collaborates With BETTER WORK in Columbus

A Partner For Life

Several of the Chattahoochee Valley Poverty Reduction Coalition (CVPRC) member organizations attended the May 26th Jobs for Life class to share information on resources and talk with students about overcoming the roadblocks they face. Some of the potential roadblocks discussed included mental and emotional health, childcare challenges, and needed education and training. This Community Resource panel was able to help students understand the steps they must take to overcome these challenges and others.

Responding to the needs in a community is paramount to our success.

Learn how our community partners stepped up to support the needs in Columbus through area-businesses.

Our Partners Matter

We would like to thank Candace Muncy (United Way-211), Dr. Asante Hilts (Columbus Health Department), and Jessica Neal (Goodwill) for attending as well as Jamie Thomas (Enrichment Services) and April Hopson (Columbus Technical College) for sending representatives on their behalf.

Our entire Jobs for Life team and students appreciate you!

Job for Life classes are successful because of our community partners and volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about these classes and getting involved, visit our website at https://betteropportunity.org/jobs-for-life/

The Water Tower will soon make Gwinnett County a hub for water innovation and research | Gwinnett Daily Post

by Corey Burres | Feb 27, 2022

The Water Tower will soon make Gwinnett County a hub for water innovation and research | Gwinnett Daily Post

Gwinnett County’s new center for water-related research and innovation development is close to opening its doors after years of planning and construction.

The Water Tower property in Buford is set to welcome tenants in March, and officials from the center and Gwinnett County government will hold a ribbon cutting for local officials on March 30. The center’s “industry” grand opening, where water industry businesses and professionals from around the world will be hosted, will then be held nearly a month later on April 22…

A ground breaking for The Water Tower was held in 2018 and several partners have signed up to team up with the center.

Those partners include Georgia Tech, Georgia Gwinnett College, Georgia State University, the Georgia Association of Water Professionals, the Georgia Center for Opportunity, Science for Georgia, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Global Water Works, Siemens, Mueller, JEA, Gresham Smith, Wade Trim, Kamstrup, AECOM, Ardurra, OnSyte Performance, Infiltrator Water Technologies, Municipex, Reeves + Young, HL Strategy, Safe-T-Cover, Aqaix, GWWI, Resilient H2O Partners, go:hub and McWane.

Read the full article here

Media blasted for ignoring study on harmful government lockdowns | The Johnston County Report

by David Bass | Feb 9, 2022

Media blasted for ignoring study on harmful government lockdowns | The Johnston County Report

A new meta-analysis from Johns Hopkins University shows that government-mandated lockdowns in America and Europe during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic only reduced the death rate by 0.2%, on average. Researchers concluded that lockdowns “have had little to no public health effects” while imposing “enormous economic and social costs” and should be “rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.”

Meanwhile, another faculty member at Johns Hopkins is blasting his own university and the media broadly for ignoring or downplaying the study…

The working paper comes on the heels of other research questioning the effectiveness of lockdowns in saving lives compared to the social and economic toll. A working paper from the Georgia Center for Opportunity found no correlations between the severity of government-imposed shutdowns and reported rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations or deaths. But states that imposed more stringent lockdowns — such as New York and California — continue to experience negative economic effects compared to less severe states, such as Utah.

Read the full article here

BETTER WORK has changed Latesha’s and Shay’s lives forever

by Corey Burres | Feb 8, 2022

BETTER WORK has changed Latesha’s and Shay’s lives forever

A newly released video shares the impact of BETTER WORK with the world

For single mothers, Shay and Latesha, the effects of being trapped in the system meant that not only were they impacted but their kids were as well. Like most mothers, all they wanted for their kids was an opportunity to thrive and have a better life. But unlike many parents, the instability of work presented a sense of hopelessness that both Shay and Latesha struggled to overcome.

In 2020, the Atlas Network, an international organization that partners with over 500 think tanks around the world to remove barriers to opportunities; and empower individuals to live a life of choice came to Georgia to create a documentary on the Georgia Center for Opportunity. What they found was a program that was bringing dignity through work to a struggling community in Columbus, GA.

The moving story of Shay and Latesha overcoming adversity as they joined the Georgia Center for Opportunity’s groundbreaking BETTER WORK program (then titled Hiring Well, Doing Good) is a powerful one. It is one that both highlights the struggles many low-income mothers face, while showing an example of the dignity that can come out of programs that empower individuals.

“Dignity comes from us giving what we’ve been gifted with back to the world and figuring out our place in it,”

– Joyce Mayberry

Read The Full Story

BETTER WORK means a better opportunity

The BETTER WORK program started as a pilot program to help address the entire need of unemployed or underemployed individuals. Many people struggling and living on government assistance need a community to come around them to address immediate needs as well as vocational needs. BETTER WORK is designed to do just that. It is a program that brings together local resources through non-profits and businesses. Through mentorship and community, BETTER WORK is helping get individuals in sustainable and rewarding work.

Shay and Latesha’s story is just one example of how something as simple as work, can lead to a thriving and hopeful future for an entire family. It is why work is more than just a job to those in need. It provides hope, dignity and a sense of purpose.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity is proud to have been able to share this story and thankful to the Atlas Network for making sure the world sees it.