Empower UC is now enrolling DeKalb County families.
Empower UC Director Megan Spurgeon said the program is not a handout, but provides resources to lift people from poverty. Spurgeon said Empower UC can enroll up to ten more Dekalb County families.
“We know that there is a need in DeKalb County,” Spurgeon said. “And we’re just looking to find the right families with children in the home that are kind of ready to take that next step to, as we refer to it as, their next step into financial and wellbeing prosperity.”
Spurgeon said 63 families have reached over 225 percent of the federal poverty level with help from Empower UC. Spurgeon said Empower UC partners with Tennessee Tech, Highland Training Centers & Work Connections, and other similar resources.
Spurgeon said some people misunderstand Empower UC’s method of helping families.
“We’re not a program you can just come to and receive financial payment for something,” Spurgeon said. “Parents really have to put a lot of buy-in into the program in order to receive any kind of financial benefit out of it. You have to actively be working with your navigator, actively working your plan to receive financial benefit.”
Spurgeon said Empower UC invests in families, and helps build community with Circles Empowerment Nights.
“We ask for community volunteers and community resources to come around and wrap around those families as well,” Spurgeon said. “To come in and meet them, teach them skills, or kind of just broaden their horizons to some other areas they never have looked at before.”
Dekalb County families interested in learning more can contact the Empower UC office.
