Speaker: Sarah Hutton, Managing Director, Career Pathways
Introduce yourself and tell us why fighting poverty and expanding opportunity is
so important to our region.
Sarah Hutton: My name is Sarah Hutton and i'm the Managing Director for Career Pathways here at United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Fighting poverty and expanding opportunity in our region is important because research has shown time and time again that concentrated poverty like what is experienced by many of the cities and towns our United Way serves, has negative effects on people's physical and mental health, education levels, and upward mobility... even if they themselves are not currently considered low income. This means that when our neighbors are doing better, we're all doing better. And the best way to lift up a community is to help those who have been systematically held back for decades.
Describe how a gift to United Way helps people and families build the skills and support they need to rise above the poverty line.
Sarah Hutton: Your gift to United Way can help people attend a job training program, can provide the wraparound services needed to finish that training program and find a job, can ensure they are retained at that job and can help break down barriers that keep people from advancing in the workforce, such as old arrest and conviction records from years, if not decades prior.
Share a story of a person whose life was positively impacted or an example of a solution made possible through donors' support.
Sarah Hutton: We first began our record clearing and employment access initiative through The Promise. In 2022 this program brings free legal services to neighborhoods all around the city so that people can access the record clearing and sealing they're legally eligible for and entitled to, but otherwise cannot afford. One of our first participants that summer received his expungement approximately one year later. He said when I received the letter, I cried from a troubled youth in the court system at 11 to a 49 year old free from the past. I no longer let my history define me overcoming poverty. I am grateful for where I am today. I now proudly work in a city building, defying expectations, the financial impact no longer haunts me. There are opportunities ahead. I almost lost everything but the erased record reminds me of my ability to overcome. Your support, helps people like this, feel optimistic about their futures and reach their full potential.
