I am so excited to introduce you to the Getting Ahead Workshop, ABQ Mom’s nonprofit spotlight for 2024.
Here at ABQ Mom, we get many requests to sponsor and share about nonprofits in our city. While we wish we could help every single one significantly, that’s simply not a possibility. So our solution is to adopt one nonprofit every year.
Here’s where you come in. We hope that because of our collective effort and your support, we can truly move the needle for the nonprofit we choose to adopt. (Perhaps you helped when we created a home for human trafficking survivors last year in partnership with the New Mexico Dream Center. Because so many of you chipped in, we were able to create a lovely, safe space for moms and their children.)
Getting Ahead is a program of Shine Partnership. It’s a 16-session workshop for families of students in APS Title-1 Schools who wish to improve their economic stability.
Imagine 12 people gathered around a table. One is a Facilitator. The others are Investigators. The facilitator helps move the process along, but the Investigators do the work of exploring, examining, and processing information. The facilitator’s job is not to make suggestions, offer solutions, or argue for change. Instead, the facilitator encourages and supports the Investigators as they develop the knowledge and tools to deal critically and creatively with reality and solve community problems.
Getting Ahead provides a way to investigate the impact poverty has had on each participant, their families, and their communities. It provides a safe, agenda-free learning environment where adults can reflect on their lives, examine where they are at, assess their own strengths and resources, investigate new possibilities, make plans for their own future stories, offer ideas for building a prosperous community, and choose a team to help them fulfill their goals and dreams.
During each workshop, participants receive . . .
- A workbook and supplies.
- A family meal at each session.
- Childcare and homework help.
- The ability to earn up to $25 in Smith’s gift cards per session ($400 total).
Getting Ahead Investigators . . .
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Explore and analyze themes in their lives.
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Assess their resources.
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Build their future story.
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Make their own choices.
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Solve problems and control their own lives.
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Discover the hidden rules of class that empower them to think and act differently.
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Make concrete plans for economic stability and begin to build wealth.
My favorite thing about the Getting Ahead Workshop is how empowering it is. Participants graduate from the program with the ability to self-actualize or to fully realize their own potential. Make sure to watch the videos below to learn more about the program from graduates’ own mouths.
So how can you contribute to Getting Ahead?
1. Perhaps you or someone you know should apply to be part of the next round of workshops.
The next Getting Ahead workshops will begin in the fall. But applications are accepted year-round. Apply online here.
2. Participate in Shine’s current fundraiser: an online auction.
While Getting Ahead is partially funded by a grant from APS, Shine Partnership still has to raise money to fully fund each session of workshops. Their current fundraiser, an online auction, is now open until April 28. Bid on fabulous items such as baby and kids gear, furniture, brand-name purses, mountain bikes, and more! (I bid on Navajo tacos made in my home. I gotta win because how delicious does that sound!?) All the proceeds from this auction benefit the 2024-25 Getting Ahead Workshops.
Click here to access the auction. (And make sure to let us know what you win!)
3. Donate grocery gift cards.
Many Getting Ahead participants report that they initially signed up just to get the grocery gift cards. But they end up discovering so much more as the workshop progresses. So if you are in a financial position to donate gift cards for this program to help offset the costs, it would be so appreciated.
Please purchase gift cards in increments of $20 and $5. (Participants receive $20 for attending and $5 for doing homework.) You can purchase Smith’s gift cards online and have them shipped to the following address.
Shine Partnership
7001 San Antonio Drive NE, Suite H
Albuquerque, NM 87109
4. Mark your calendar for the Bling Show.
The Bling Show Fundraiser is a resale jewelry event that includes jewelry, scarves, and purses. The next event occurs on May 18 from 9 am – 2 pm at 7001 San Antonio Dr, NE, Suites M & N (NE corner of San Antonio and Louisiana). Proceeds of this fundraiser also benefit scholarships for the 2024-2025 Getting Ahead Workshops.
