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food stamps run out so look at options to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for families. Clearly these products are more expensive which is why families who are struggling dont purchase them. Consider how to keep the children in their same school while the family is finding stable housing. This is a difficult task to manage but critical to the children. Bring multiple service providers into your program arenas. The nonprofit world tends to operate in silos which makes life even more difficult for people in poverty particularly working families. Make sure mental health services are available for children and families. When we see a person on the street who is suffering from schizophre- nia the mental health issue is fairly obvious. More subtle is the cumulative small traumas that happen as a result of living in poverty so counselors who are trained to support families are critical. Once families are in a place of basic stability they can work on longer-term solutions. This can only be accomplished in partnership with others. Here are our groups commitments to keep our coalition together 1. Poverty is everyones problem so this work must involve a large group of leaders from multiple sectors in our community. 2. We must use existing resources in our com- munity so each member agreed to use their agencys resources to support the effort. 3. Focus on the vision not on the impact of an individual organization. Egos could not be involved so each member vowed to check their guns at the door. 4. We must learn what has worked elsewhere but customize locally. 5. Value local experts to define best practices to maximize the collective wisdom and expertise of the group members. For exam- ple the Early Learning Coalition would define quality child care. Conswala Nelson is a single mother of two. When she joined the 1000 in 1000 program she was earning only 10000 per year and liv- ing in public housing. Her high debt and low credit score added to her burdens but she was determined to build a better life for her family. She landed a great job with GMAC and within 18 months had increased her annual income to 38500. She diligently paid down her debt and settled accounts that had gone into collections. She worked with her financial counselor to dispute incorrect items on her credit report. Through hard work and perseverance she improved her credit score by almost 200 points She continued to save after graduating from the program and bought her first home last year. Stories like these keep us all going when times get hard. We want every family in Jack- sonville to have the same success as Conswala. 40 WWW.AGRM.ORG MAYJUNE 2016 Martha is chief strategy and development officer for Family Foundations a nonprofit in Jacksonville Florida that grows strong money-wise families. She can be reached at marthacfamilyfoundations.org. Consider how to keep the children in their same school while the family is finding stable housing.