SELF serves over 6,000 families yearly, many through programs designed to help low-income people find a path that allows them to lead themselves out of poverty.
SELF offers the following programs and services:
•Build-Up Academy- teaches low-income adults construction skills and connects them to apprenticeships, jobs and advanced training programs. Employment training and hands-on work included!
•Butler County Microenterprise and Microloan Program – helps low and moderate income individuals learn in group workshops about all aspects of starting a business including hands-on assistance in writing a business plan and the opportunity to apply for a loan of up to $5,000 to launch their business. Two other organizations are partners in the program.
•"Getting Ahead" – "Getting Ahead in a just Gettin' by World" is a workshop that assists individuals living in poverty to evaluate their lives and to develop the life skills necessary to survive and flourish. Getting Ahead participants develop a series of mental models to examine their own pasts and create new futures.
•Neighbors Who Care: Home Repair and Group Workcamps Projects –volunteer-driven home repair projects in Butler County which help homeowners - primarily low-income senior citizens and people with disabilities. Activities spike in the summer during Group Workcamps week. Free home repairs and mobility modifications helped over 100 homeowners last year.
•Individual Development Account (IDA) program -- financial literacy classes and goal-specific education combined with matched savings accounts for low to moderate income clients so that they can acquire a home, start a business, or access higher education. Client savings are matched by SELF $2 to every $1!
•JOBS NOW! -- a powerful employment and education program for low-income individuals to improve economic stability through obtaining employment or better employment. The 12-week program provides comprehensive assessment; a 3-week, 15-hour skills workshop taught by business professionals; limited emergency services, such as utility assistance, interview clothing and job-related transportation; and most importantly, job leads. Participants are eligible for a free laptop computer upon successful completion of the program.
•Emergency Home Energy Assistance and Summer Cooling Programs -help for low-income families being threatened with shut off of heat in the winter or electric in the summer. In addition, SELF verifies and re-verifies participants on the Percentage of Income Payment Plans (PIPP) Plus program and administers several fuel funds.
