This year’s breakfast program featured stories from Compass clients and staff, and a special guest speaker - Andrea Campbell, the new President of Boston's City Council. It was also a chance for us to lift up and celebrate the ways in which our work has grown over the past year, including the expansion of our National Network to serve mission-aligned partners in seven states across the country.
Amatullah Mervin, one of our client speakers, shared her experience as a participant in the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program that we operate in partnership with Cambridge Housing Authority. In her remarks, Amatullah talked about what the program has meant for her, her sister (who is also enrolled in the program), and their family: "People talk about the cycle of poverty, and I hesitate to say this, but it can really be more of a curse. We’ve seen how it passes from one generation to the next...My sister and I are both breaking that cycle for ourselves and for our family."
We also shared a video featuring Lidia German, who is a recent graduate of the FSS program that we operate in partnership with Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development. Lidia is one of 46 clients whom we celebrated at our second annual FSS graduation in Lynn last week. Together, these 46 clients have saved over $310,000 in their FSS savings accounts, and used those savings to reach their financial goals. For Lidia, that goal was to own a home, where she could gather her children and grandchildren together. As Lidia shared, “I have accomplished more than I ever thought I could. It’s the best feeling to be able to own my home.”
View photographs from the Breakfast here.