The first step: imagine life as it could be
People arrive at Crossroads, a supportive living program for men and women transitioning out of homelessness, from every stage of life and also loss—loss of family, friends, home, job, health. But they also arrive with goals, such as conquering addiction and getting a living-wage job.
Those are big goals, requiring intensely personal transformations. That’s why members of the Getting Ahead course start with imagining the lives they could lead, actually drawing a roadmap demonstrating how to get where they want to go.
Facilitated by Opportunity Alliance Nevada and supported by a grant from the McGowan Fund, three groups of Crossroads residents made a step towards establishing financial stability for the long term by taking the course this year through classwork and individual coaching.
Inspired by the common goal of a stable financial future—especially during a time of recovery from addiction—clients set the tone for the course and held one another accountable. “It’s real empowerment,” says Debora McDermed, master coach at Opportunity Alliance Nevada and coach of Getting Ahead. “They owned the success of the program.”