Today we’d like to introduce you to Elise Kaufman.
Elise, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In college, I was a Psychology and Spanish major, and as a Spanish major, it was required that I study abroad for a semester. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with my majors yet (they are both very broad), and I was excited for the chance to explore possible future careers. During my semester abroad in Honduras, I was introduced to an asset-based community development non-profit called Association for a More Just Society; I learned from them and volunteered with them for the entire semester. I quickly fell in love with the long-term and holistic approach of Association for a More Society, so when I returned to the states, I decided to intern at a non-profit. I reached out to the Founder and CEO of Attack Poverty, Richard Logan, to learn more about their work and philosophy.
As I listed to Richard speak about the long-term relational approach that Attack Poverty took to breaking the cycle of generational poverty, I knew this was the kind of organization I not only wanted to intern with but also ultimately work for. I interned with Attack Poverty in their Friends of North Richmond location for the summer before my Senior year and soaked in all they could teach me about empowerment, the importance of long-term relationships in the community, listening to the community, and seeing assets while others only see needs. I was sad to leave when my time came to a close; I simply knew after my three months with them that wanted to stay and work for Attack Poverty. As I finished my final year in college, I reached out to those I worked with at Attack Poverty to see if there were currently hiring, and I was thrilled to hear they were!
I applied and a couple of months later, I was sitting with shaking hands signed my employment paperwork! I started as the Director of Internships, creating a structured internship program for college students to learn and gain experience in the non-profit field. It was exciting getting to encourage and teach college students as so many others had done for me! After about a year, I also took on the role of Director of Social Media, helping market and create graphics for our online audience. I loved working with college students and social media, but I ultimately wanted to work in the North Richmond location again.
So when I a Volunteer Coordinator position opened at Friends of North Richmond, I applied and got the job! I have worked at the Friends of North Richmond location for the past two years, and with great leadership and encouragement from Attack Poverty, I have grown from the Volunteer Coordinator position to Programs Coordinator to the position I currently hold as the Director of Friends of North Richmond.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
New to the workforce and fresh out of college, I had a lot to learn and made a lot of mistakes! Between accidentally crashing our website to dropping the keys of a home repair project through the slats of the floorboards, it is needless to say I am so thankful for my co-worker’s patience as they walked with me each step of the way. They have encouraged me, guided me, and believed in me from the beginning – seeing something in me that I never saw in myself.
The biggest foundation of the work of Attack Poverty is relationships. That is why the work of Attack Poverty is concentrated in under-resourced geographic specific areas (neighborhoods such as North Richmond); with a defined area, we are able to be more intentional relationally. These relationships are the most rewarding part of working with Attack Poverty, but initially building these relationships and earning trust can be difficult.
When I first started working in the North Richmond community as an intern, I was honored to be introduced to a wonderful woman named Mrs. Nery. She has lived and worked in the North Richmond community for over 20 years, encouraging children, feeding them when they are hungry, helping them with their homework, and bringing them to church on Sunday mornings. She is an awe-inspiring woman and I wanted to spend more time with her in hopes some of her kindness and patience would rub off on me and also get to know the community better. I began volunteering with Mrs. Nery on Sunday mornings, driving in the caravan of cars packed with children and teens ready to go to church and eat lunch when we returned.
We would drive to church and then gather at Mrs. Nery’s for prayer and lunch after the service. Car rides are some of the best times for conversations, and I loved listening to the stories of the teenagers as they laughed and joked. I quickly realized though that many of the teens I was sitting in my car had gone through experiences I could never imagine. Between fights at school, gun violence, and unhealthy family situations, the children and teens I spent Sunday mornings with did not respect my limited amount of street credit. I had a wonderful childhood free of fighting, drugs, or violence. All of which are blessings that my carload of children and teens had trouble relating to, so they did not trust or respect me. I was told stories and called a slew of names just to see how I would react. I was yelled at and spit on.
When I broke up fist fights that erupted at lunch, I was swung at. Having lived in the community for years and being well respected, Mrs. Nery encouraged me to not give up, so I continued driving the children and teens to church with her on Sunday mornings and listening to their stories in the car. And then one day, while driving to church, one of the teenagers asked me more advice. I knew this was big, this meant she wanted my opinion and was being open and vulnerable. Forcing my self not to smile at this small victory, we sat and talked in the car the entire way to church.
From there, I began having monthly cookie making get-togethers at my house, where we would sit, talk, and eat cookies. Four years later, the children and teens I see on Sunday morning aren’t strangers any longer, they are friends and family and we do life together. I have been humbled as they have introduced me to their parents and invited me to their choir concerts and football games. I moved into the North Richmond community about a year ago so I could spend even more time with my friends and now neighbors in North Richmond. They teach me daily that showing up is the best way to show love, they teach me to break my preconceived ideas and see people as they are, they teach me to be humble and listen, they teach me constantly to be a better person.
Friends of North Richmond – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Attack Poverty is a global organization that serves locally, adopting pockets of poverty and launching what we call ‘Friends Communities’. Our vision is to empower people to attack poverty in their life and community. Our mission is to strengthen under-resourced communities through spiritual growth, education, revitalization, and basic needs. We do this in partnership with the local church, residents, businesses, and community leaders by making a long-term commitment to go deep and really care about the things that community cares about. Our approach is deeply intentional, both strategically and geographically. Our community programs include in-school student support, after-school programs, literacy, Adult GED completion, English as a second language class, job readiness training and home repair.
At Attack Poverty, we view poverty differently. We believe that poverty is not simply about a lack of stuff. If it were, we could show up, hand out stuff and poverty would be eradicated. Generational poverty is so much deeper than a lack of money and stuff. It’s spiritual. Poverty is broken relationships with God, with one another and with the world around us. For us, this means we are more about a hand-up than a handout; our focus is on development, not charity. To do this, we take an asset-based approach that aims to build on the assets and capacities of the community. That means we intentionally seek and ask what do neighbors love about their community, what is good, and what could be better. We listen and connect resource with need, increasing the capacity of those caught in the web of poverty through empowerment. We are awakening potential and provoking transformation!
It all starts with listening for us. We do deep community listening. This looks like door-to-door conversational surveys, appreciative inquiry summits and community action group engagement. In many cases, it starts with doing a home repair for a senior couple or a single mom. Meeting people in their point of need and building trust through a relationship in the sacred space of their home. This tailored and intentional embedding in communities gives us a clear understanding of the need and creates the relationship for us to be the catalytic connecting piece for a wholistic tailored solution!
I am proud to say that we are an organization that listens to and learns from the community. We are constantly engaging in conversation with neighbors and residents to ensure that we have a clear understanding of how residents view their own community and that we are accomplishing what we say we are going to do. I love working for an organization is that humble and constantly seeking input, never too proud to think we have all the answers and can do it alone. We listen and partner to serve as holistically and intentionally as possible. The core values of Attack Poverty are Faith in Action, Integrity, Empowerment, Collaborative Partnership, and Holistic Approach.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The work we do at Attack Poverty is long term. In many cases of community development, it takes 70 years (or a generation) to see a true long lasting transformation in a community. We are committed to planting seeds that we may never see grow and produce fruit, knowing that the next generation of leaders will reap the harvest. That being said, success is in the small things and often are the result of years worth of relationships.
Success is a person, a family, a community moving from a place of surviving to a place of thriving. Success to us looks like teenagers, that we have been forming relationships with and encouraging for years, filling out job applications, earning a job, showing up to work on time, and earning a paycheck.
Success looks like the students enrolled in You Can Academy, our community-based after-school program for first through fifth-grade students, succeeding at a rate of over 90% and 80% are at or exceeding grade level in core subjects! When kids are at or exceeding grade level, their future drastically changes. And this, this changes the trajectory of an entire community.
Success looks like students changing their talk track from “I’ll never finish high school” to “I’ll never drop out of high school like others in my family”. Success looks like adults earning their GED and therefore being able to earn a living wage job to support their family. Success looks like supporting women from the Women’s Shelter as they learn English, earn a job, and find freedom in being in a safe environment.
Success looks like adults participating in our job readiness class called Jobs for Life and 80% of the students attaining a job before they graduate. Success looks like being a trusted and safe place for a student in our You Can Academy to share that her family’s home was still covered in mold from being flooded by Harvey and partnering with local churches and organizations to repair their home all the while giving the family a voice in the construction choices such as home layout, paint color, etc.
Success looks like one neighbor having their home repaired and then opening their home to others in order to be a safe place. Success looks like repairing homes devastated by Hurricane Harvey and crying tears of joy with residents as they move back home after months of living in a hotel. Success looks like people seeing themselves as competent and capable and possessing unique skills and talents; encouraging each other to be the best they can be.
To us at Attack Poverty, success looks like relationships and trust – being a place where people are comfortable being vulnerable in their difficulties and in turn find the peace, encouragement, and tools they need to flourish. Success is not about what we at Attack Poverty do. Success is friends, neighbors, residents recognizing their God-given potential.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1305 Clay Street Richmond, TX 77469
- Website: attackpoverty.org
- Phone: 281-762-2068
- Email: info@attackpoverty.org
- Instagram: @attackpoverty
- Facebook: @attackpoverty
- Twitter: @attackpoverty
- Other: https://www.flickr.com/photos/friendsofnorthrichmond/
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