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How a local Salvation Army program is helping local moms

The Hawk Eye - 10/22/2017

Oct. 22--When Emily Winston moved to Burlington from Chicago a few months ago, she was homeless.

A month after enrolling in the Salvation Army's Pathway of Hope program, she had a job at Hardee's and a roof over her head. She's getting ready to start a second, temporary job next month, ringing the bell during the Salvation Army's kettle drive

Now she has the resources to feed her five children.

"It's an awesome program. I'm glad I'm in it," she said.

Winston has used other social service programs before, but it was the Pathway of Hope that changed her life.

"I've never met anyone as understanding or as down to earth as these people (at the Salvation Army)," she said.

Introduced to the Burlington Salvation Army in November of last year, the Pathway of Hope program provides targeted services to families to help them break the cycle of poverty. The program works like a class, tasking participants with certain goals such as getting a job, getting a place to stay, obtaining transportation and going back to school.

Amy Hamilton, who started at the Burlington Salvation Army in March and oversees the program, said that can include resources from the Salvation Army itself, such as food from the food pantry or furniture from the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

"We do a lot of budgeting for vehicles. A lot of moms don't have transportation," Hamilton said.

The resources are secondary, though. There are 20 families enrolled in the program right now, and Hamilton's goal is to help them become more self-sufficient.

Marquieta Turner has three children, and landed a job as a cook for the Salvation Army after enrolling in the program. The Salvation Army provides a free meal at noon every weekday for those can't afford one, and it keeps Turner plenty busy.

"It keeps me on the right path, that's for sure," Turner said.

Turner moved to Burlington from Chicago about four years ago to make a better life for her family. While she has certainly noticed the uptick in violence in Burlington over the past couple of years, she said it's nothing compared to the violence in Chicago.

"It's quieter and a lot slower paced that what I'm used to. It's better. It's a better environment for my kids," she said.

The program was adopted by the Salvation Army in 2012 and has been steadily rolled out to individual Salvation Army locations. The Burlington Pathway of Hope is particularly targeted at families, and Hamilton serves as a kind of personal assistant to each of them.

The program eventually ends in a graduation, though the time it takes to get there depends on each individual's circumstances.

"They graduate once they have met all their goals and feel like they have become more self sufficient," Hamilton said.

Kandace Durbin and her three children have been in the program almost since it started, and moved from an apartment to a house about five months ago. She was recommended to the program by her Department of Human Services case worker, and hasn't regretted a day since.

"I didn't even know about the program at all until then," she said.

The Salvation Army is also gearing up for its annual Angel Tree this year -- a Toys for Tots-like program that provides toys to needy children. To find out more about the Pathway of Hope or Angel Tree programs, call the Salvation Army at (319) 753-2038.

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