Springfield WORKS program allows people to move up in career by filling in gap from lost benefits
SPRINGFIELD – Joelene Christmas did all the things she needed to get ahead: She earned a degree Holyoke Community College and excelled in a job in its line cook program. But when she was offered a promotion to become an event planner, she felt she had to turn it down.
'I said, if I take this promotion I could lose my subsidized housing,' she said. 'The promotion doesn't pay me enough.'
Welcome to the 'cliff effect' that puts people who are working low-wage jobs in a quandary. They do everything to get ahead but when they have an opportunity for promotion, being put in a higher income bracket means they can lose needed subsidies for child care, housing and health care which can't be made up.
Christmas did take the job and lost $200 a month in food stamps, but her children aren't going hungry because a new initiative led by Springfield WORKS called Bridge to Prosperity is helping her make up the difference. That now gives her a chance to earn more and develop the job experience to move up the career ladder.
'It is difficult to make ends meet,' she said. 'I feel trapped and I don't like feeling trapped …I want to move forward, I just don't know how.'
The Cliff Effect Program has been years in the making and was kicked off in February with a total of 18 clients statewide including seven in Western Massachusetts, said Anne Shecrallah Kandilis, initiative director for Springfield WORKS.
The cliff effect doesn't just keep people from gaining financial independence, it also leaves employers unable to promote good workers into positions with more responsibility, she said.
People often think of benefits for housing, child care, food stamps and health care as a package but they are each granted individually and have their own income thresholds so it is difficult to sort through the loss of finances.
The pilot program essentially provides people the extra money and other assistance that allows them to jump from a $16- or $17-an-hour job to one that may earn $20 or $25 an hour and fills in the gaps for lost benefits until they move ahead again and become financially independent, she said.
'We want to help people in low wage jobs who want a career,' Kandilis said. 'It is about identifying people who might be ready.'
The project took years to create and is done in partnership with at least 14 agencies and funders including the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, United Way of Pioneer Valley, the Massachusetts Economic Pathways Coalition and the MassMutual Foundation.
It has now secured about $2.6 million, some of it in state money with the help of Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, and Reps. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, and Patricia Duffy, D-Holyoke. It is now working to raise another $2.6 million so it can grow to 100 people by the end of the year, Kandilis said.
Gomez called the program a transition to economic independence that makes sense.
'The cliff effect is one of the barriers and a structural flaw in our system that penalizes progress,' Gomez said. 'Families who are doing everything right, working, advancing, striving find themselves worse off.'
While the program provides financial support to make up for lost benefits, it also assists with individualized job coaching and help with financial management. In two years, clients also receive a $10,000 asset building payment to support life-changing investments such as purchasing a car or finding a better place to live, said Kristen Joyce, program director for the Cliff Effect Program.
The program is very individualized so that it helps people with what they need. For example, Rachel Keenan, who works at Baystate Medical Center in the business department, has now applied to a hospital-sponsored nursing training program through Holyoke Community College so she can become a nurse.
In the meantime, the Cliff Effect Program is assisting her with paying health insurance premiums which increased as she received a raise.
Keenan inherited a house from her parents but the roof is failing and if she doesn't replace it, she could lose her insurance. Cliff Effect is helping her replace the roof so she has an affordable and safe home and can build equity that way.
'It has been a huge help. The roof will make a huge difference,' she said.
Read the original article on MassLive.
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