The Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments (SEUALG) is an organization in the Carbon County area that offers a plethora of programs to help low-income individuals and seniors. One of their most successful programs is the Circles of Carbon County Program, the Community Services Program Manager, Julie Rosier took time to come into Castle Country Radio to talk about all the details of this program.
“So Circles is intuitive that we have, that Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments administers and it helps to provide tools and resources. So what we do is we are working with families that we get referrals from all of our partnerships, and some of our programs, and it’s a commitment, we ask families for the 18-month commitment, and once they come we start working on many different things,” said Rosier. Some of those things can range from soft skills, financial literacy, and healthy relationships, all of which help families eliminate debt and overcome any of the challenges that poverty brings.
“A Circles participant once they join for the first twelve weeks they come to classes and if they have attended 10 of the 12 classes, they become a leader. They are called a Circle Leader because there are a couple reasons, one, they are the ones that will navigate their way out of poverty, its just we’re there to kind help with the tools and resources; and we also want them to know that they are a leader, they can and will be a leader in our community,” explained Rosier. The Circles Leaders work together with Allys or members of the community to help them along the way as they work the program.
“An Ally is an intentional friendship; an ally is someone who is secure and stable in their life and we ask and try to get two Allies for every Circle Leader. So we ask the Allies to attend one weekly meeting and they are there to just give that support to the Circle Leader,” stated Rosier. The Allies also supports the Circle Leader with things like developing a budget, assists in applying and preparing for job interviews. The Circles of Carbon County Program is always looking for individuals within the community to be an Ally. If you are interested you can contact the SEUALG office at (435) 613-0067 for more details and information.
Generally, the Circles of Carbon County Program would meet in person weekly but because of the COVID pandemic, they have been hosting their meetings virtually. “We will be starting a new Cohort, which means a new group of Circles participants and because of this pandemic we’ve been doing our meeting virtually every week but we’re hoping to get in the next several weeks up and running another Cohort. So if this is something that you know you are interested in or you have a family that might be interested in please contact me,” said Rosier. Those interested in obtaining further information on the Circles of Carbon County Program can call the SEUALG office at (435) 613-0067 or visit their website at http://seualg.utah.gov/