Getting Ahead

Getting Ahead is a 16-week financial literacy and life-skills course offered by Catholic Charities of South Carolina (CCSC) that helps individuals in poverty understand why they are “just getting by” and build a concrete plan to move toward long-term stability. The workshop is based on Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World and the Bridges Out of Poverty framework, and is currently offered at our Georgetown office twice a year and coming soon to our Charleston office!

Participants attend group sessions over about 16 weeks, exploring the realities of poverty, local community barriers, and the “hidden rules” of economic class. They complete a personal “future story,” build budgets, identify local resources, and set practical goals around employment, education, housing, and family stability. 

CCSC began offering Getting Ahead in Georgetown in 2018; at least 35 individuals completed the program there in its early years, and the model has since spread to additional offices as part of CCSC’s broader network. Getting Ahead has a 97% success rate. Graduates moved from unsafe, unstable housing into safe, subsidized apartments after learning how to navigate housing systems and expunge records. Some graduates have launched small businesses (such as a lawn-care company) using the financial planning, resource-building, and confidence gained in the workshop to move from generational poverty toward self-sufficiency.
 

Getting Ahead is 16-week financial literacy and lifestyle course that provides education for understanding and breaking the cycle of generational poverty.

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These classes are offered at our Georgetown Office and coming soon to Charleston!

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For more information...

 

For the next Getting Ahead class

in Georgetown please call:

843-546-1470

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For the coming Getting Ahead class

in Charleston please call: 

​843-531-5570