The best of the community and the best of government – working together.

The Circles^TM Campaign is a new initiative that will engage communities in joining with 1,000 families of low income to find paths out of poverty and to document the challenges and victories of this process. The stories and research from this initiative will be used to inspire and equip national, state, and community leaders to expand their local and national intention and capacity for reducing and eventually eliminating poverty. Based on the results, leaders from across the nation can design a new, coherent and powerful social contract between hard-working, play-by-the-rules families, local communities and government. The new contract can accelerate solutions to reducing and eventually ending poverty in the United States.

Move the Mountain is joined by Dr. Ruby K. Payne and Phil DeVol, authors of two best selling books: A Framework of Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne and Bridges out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities by Ruby Payne and Phil Devol. In concert with her organization, aha! Process, Ruby and Phil are actively engaged in training communities nationally about poverty.

Circles Initiatives are in progress in cities across the country. A Circle is comprised of a family working to get out of poverty and two to four community allies, people who are willing to befriend the family and support their way out of poverty. Local Circle initiatives have three goals: 1) invite the community to join the human service system in helping people out of poverty, 2) inspire and equip the community to eradicate poverty, 3) develop genuine and lasting relationships across socioeconomic class lines with an intention to facilitate low-income people moving permanently out of poverty.

The three objectives for The Circles^TM Campaign are:

1. Assist 1000 families completely out of poverty,
2. Carefully document the steps taken to help them out of poverty and any barriers they encountered(their own internal barriers as well as community and government policy barriers),
3. Help leaders develop a new social contract draft that outlines what a community, state and nation can and should do to assure hard-working families can thrive.

Select agencies have committed to pilot the process within their communities. The lessons learned by these agencies will be carefully documented in order to know how to go to scale across the nation. Since 1996, foundations, local, state, and federal government have invested over $5 million in testing the Circles^TM approach. MTM, Aha Process and participating Community Action Associations will promote the campaign until we have secured 1000 Circles^TM.

If your community is interested in joining the The Circles^TM Campaign, contact us!

	Escambia County, Florida launches their Circles Campaign. Approximately 200 community leaders and professionals who work with poverty issues gathered in Pensacola to hear Scott Miller introduce the Circles Campaign on February 8, 2008. Escambia County will be the 35th community to join Move the Mountain’s national Circles™ Campaign, utilizing the new model blending the curriculums of Bridges out of Poverty, Getting Ahead, and Circles™. Visit www.escambiacommunitycollaborative.org for more information on their exciting work.