Getting Ahead with Hope

“Hope—it’s the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective; a lot of hope is dangerous.”― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Many of you have probably heard about one of the programs in our pathway called Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin’ By World.

At first, it sounds like a class about money—understanding your income, your budget, your debt. And that’s definitely where it starts. But very quickly, it becomes so much more. Getting Ahead turns into a conversation about how the world around us works—and how we can find our place in it in a way that brings stability and growth.

We do this because awareness changes everything. Once you start to understand what’s really happening in your life and community, you can begin making small adjustments. And sometimes, those small changes lead to huge transformations.

Before starting the class, we ask every participant one simple question: “What’s your level of hope?”

The answers range all over, but on average, people say their hope level is about a four out of ten. That number says a lot. It tells us there’s a real gap when it comes to believing the future can be different.

And that’s exactly what Getting Ahead helps rebuild. The whole course is designed to help people see that they can move forward, they can make change—and it all begins with something simple but powerful: hope.