ECHO is an organization that is dedicated to helping individuals ‘get ahead’ by investigating adverse living conditions and learning strategies for improving one’s quality of life. During the four-month program, participants have access to a wide range of resources as needed to achieve independence: individual counseling & coaching, nutritious groceries, toiletries, household goods, professional clothing, and rent assistance when available. 

The program largely consists of these elements:

• The realities of conditions at home, work, and community and how they impact stability.
• The hidden rules and special language of getting ahead in the workplace.
• How to build resources and relationships that open doors and help keep them open.
• Practical skills for dealing with change and creating stability at work and at home.
• The power of intentionally creating and following a new future story.

The ‘Getting Ahead’ program is based on the works of Philip DeVol and Ruby Payne. Since its inception, studies have been completed with diverse populations across a variety of sites and they demonstrate that ‘Getting Ahead’ appears to lead to positive changes in investigators’ poverty-related knowledge, perceived stress, mental health and wellbeing, social support, self-efficacy, hope, and goal-directed behavior and planning.

If you’re employed and are struggling with frequent family or situational crises and you have a willingness to improve your personal situation then ECHO’s ‘Getting Ahead’ program is right for you.

Participants are accepted on a rolling basis. Click the Getting Ahead logo below to apply for an upcoming class or to learn more about the program.