Saundra Boston accepts her diploma from the “Getting Ahead” program at Ochard Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church on August 22.With “Pomp and Circumstance” playing over the loudspeaker Thursday evening, the four graduates of a nationwide program addressing poverty walked down the center aisle of Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Their graduation marked the end of the eight-week “Getting Ahead” program. Together, they worked to identify resources in their communities and change the way they think about their lives, said Krystal DesChamps, who led the local classes.
Monieyon Smith said her 3-year-old daughter motivated her to participate in the class. Smith said she wanted to improve her situation to create a better future for her child. The group learned together, through good times and bad.
“It hit on so many subjects for different people that we had to take time and address those situations. Sometimes we would cry, sometimes we would laugh. Whatever the situation was, we dealt with it as a family,” Smith said. ” This class pushed me to want better and do better.”
The Thursday graduation marked the fourth class Orchard Park has hosted through its outreach ministry, the Chattanooga Purpose Center. Previous program graduates addressed the most recent graduates on Thursday. Malisa Parham, who was in the first class, said she was nearing homelessness when she began the program. The group had a family like feel, she said.