By Tyra Jackson

The Selma Times-Journal

A program from the Dallas County Family Resource Center hopes to help people break the cycle of poverty.

The center is starting Circles of Transformation, which partners families working to get out of poverty with two to three middle income community volunteers who befriend them and lend support.

Organizers say no money is given to families. Instead they offer hope, friendship and a developing sense of self-worth.

Individuals or married couples can volunteer to participate in the program. According to the center’s executive director James Thomas, the only requirement of volunteers is their time.

“We encourage wives and husbands to come out to the meetings, and we are providing daycare and a meal as an incentive to bring the family,” Thomas said.

A prospective meeting for volunteers and those in the program will be held on Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. at Church Street Methodist Church’s Windham Hall, located on the corner of Selma Avenue and Church Street.

The meeting will introduce participants to the mission and goals of Circles of Transformation.

Thomas’s background as a counselor motivated him to participate in the program.

“One of my goals in life is to help people with the problems they have,” Thomas said. “When I heard of the program, I had to be a part of it.”

Thomas said Circles of Transformation focuses specifically on individuals in Selma, but he hopes the program will spread across the state.

Dallas County Family Resource Center social worker Jan Justice said the program emphasizes the importance of equality.

“Volunteers will go through some training that will help them understand the lives of those who go through poverty,” Justice said. “It’s an opportunity for volunteers to learn about someone else’s life that is different from them.”

Participants will have plenty of time to learn about someone else’s life, through the weekly meals volunteers and families will get to share together, Justice said.

“Everybody will come together to share a meal, “ she said. “Some meetings will be very casual.”

Over the years, Justice said she realized there are a lot of people who want to make a change in their lives but are confined by a cycle of poverty. She said the program offers an outlet for individuals to escape hardship.

“Families will hopefully become empowered and gain a feeling of making a difference in their futures,” Justice said.

To register or volunteer contact the Dallas County Family Resource Center at 334-874-7785.