To the editor:

In Barton County, families facing poverty are working hard to build brighter futures - and CORE Communities is walking alongside them every step of the way. This transformational program empowers individuals to understand the challenges that keep them in crisis, build the skills necessary for long-term stability, and create meaningful, lasting change in their own lives and in our community.

At its heart, CORE Communities is about building resources for a better life. It serves people who are currently experiencing poverty or living in unstable situations, helping them become experts in their own lives and equipping them with the tools they need to break generational cycles of hardship.

What CORE Communities teaches

The CORE course begins by helping participants understand what life in poverty really looks like - not just the financial side, but the hidden rules, the barriers, and the resource gaps that make everyday survival a challenge. Clients learn how systems, wages, and community structures impact their lives, and what it truly takes to move from “just getting by” to getting ahead.

Participants also learn how to assess their own resources, identify strengths and weaknesses, and recognize opportunities for growth. This process turns clients into problem-solvers and informed decision-makers in both their homes and their community.

Building skills that last a lifetime

Through each phase of the program, individuals practice steps that help them build stability, understanding poverty and the resources needed to overcome it, recognizing systemic challenges and hidden rules, completing a personal and community assessment, learning to monitor and measure their own progress, setting action steps and taking responsibility for their goals, strengthening financial, emotional, social, and educational resources.

When these steps are completed, clients are empowered to plan, act, and build stability not only for themselves, but for their children and future generations. 

Many also become advocates and community leaders, working alongside others to address poverty at the local level and promote healthier, more stable neighborhoods for everyone.

Why Barton County needs this program - and why we need you

Poverty affects all of us. When families struggle, our entire community feels the impact - in our workforce, our schools, our local economy, and our social services.

By supporting CORE Communities of Barton County, you are not simply donating to a program. You are investing in people, in stability, and in a stronger future for our county.

How You Can Help

Core Community relies on community support, volunteers and local partnerships to keep this life-changing work going. Donations help provide program materials, weekly meals for participants and their children (when not donated), childcare during classes, transportation assistance, training resources, support for families in crisis,

Even small contributions make a major impact. You can contact Jan Perez, Program Community Liaison and Poverty Coach at 620-792-7995 or janiceperez@essdack.org.

Barton County Core Community is also registered with Golden Belt Community Foundation here in Great Bend for Giving Tuesday! -

Together, we can build a stronger, more stable future - one family at a time.

Karen Lewis