Case Study: Thriving Connections

Thriving Connections
I volunteer at Thriving Connections (TC). Their mission is to provide support “by making the personal and community connections that are important for successful life change” (Thriving Connections). TC works to increase the financial stability of families living with low income and reduce the use of welfare benefits (Thriving Connections). They work to develop personal connections as well as community connections.
There are many different groups of people who all have different responsibilities, but they all come together as a community. Leaders are the families who are motivated to get out of poverty. Allies are people who typically are middle income and they help motivate and guide the leaders. There are also food

Their main goal, however, is to help families living in poverty out, by giving them necessary resources they need and by lessening the amount of welfare dependence (Thriving Connections). Allies provide encouragement and often give advice on their financial experiences to the Leaders. They work to make the families more independent and non-reliant on financial resources.
They are a very diverse community and they don’t exclude anyone from receiving help. Services are provided without regards to race, sex, national origin, disability, or age (Thriving Connections). The organization is very accessible to anyone who is seeking help and support. Anyone seeking services doesn’t have to worry about whether they will be accepted or not, because at Thriving Connections, everyone is accepted for who they are. People are able to focus on their strengths as an individual. TC is very close to the IU campus. They do not provide car service, but there is a bus that stops very close by. The problem with the bus is the route. Only some people would be able to utilize the route based on where they live, leaving the people who can’t ride that bus to figure out for themselves a way to get

Families must apply and do an interview to see if they are eligible to use the services provided. Meaning that there is a cut off based on the amount of annual income and other financial help. Leaders also must be willing to participate in the agency. They must be willing to share stories, and create goals, and have the want to be financially independent.
A very helpful service that TC provides is our child care. Having an organization where the parents can bring their children and not have to worry about being distracted by their child. They also don’t have to worry about finding a babysitter or paying for one. The other bonus about our childcare is that it is free. Thanks to the youth volunteers, they don’t have to worry about finding anyone.
Families, often living in poverty, can’t afford the extra tutoring their children might need. Having this disadvantage makes children fall behind. The youth volunteers and allies help the children with their homework and can assist with any issues the child might need help with. They also teach financial literacy to help influence the children to be more independent as