The Learning Curve Chronicles: Healing the System, Healing Myself
- Kris Alexander
- May 14
- 4 min read
In this monthly blog series, Circles USA Chief Learning Officer Kris Alexander shares insights on her learning journey, sources of inspiration, and what excites her about her work. The column offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on the learning curve that drives growth and progress at CUSA as we continually deepen and enhance our mission of building community to end poverty.
I recently completed The Prosperity Agenda’s Family-Centered Coaching Cohort Intensive Training. I had the opportunity to attend because of the partnership being developed and solidified between Circles USA and The Prosperity Agenda—and I am so grateful for it.
This training is designed primarily for case managers and social workers supporting low-income individuals and families as they move out of crisis, through stability, and ultimately leave poverty behind for good.
It was an excellent training; I learned so much from the facilitator, Dr. Philena DeVaughn, who brought a wealth of knowledge and was truly one of the best facilitators I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning from.
But there was something deeper going on—and that’s what I want to share with you today. I witnessed others in the training experience profound “aha moments” about how they interact with their clients and participants. This training offers tools for a major mindset shift: from telling people in poverty what they need to do, to truly listening and working together to find solutions that fit the individual or family. It shifts the dynamic from the case manager being in the driver's seat to recognizing that the person receiving support is the expert in their own life. They have the tools and ability to make decisions and find solutions for themselves.
The three driving values of Family-Centered Coaching are: every individual is creative, capable, and resourceful.
Imagine if we viewed every person we encountered through that lens. What a difference that would make.
The truth is, everyone needs help sometimes. As I always seem to return to in these blog posts, interdependence is the key to healthy people. Circles USA’s work is building community to end poverty, because we recognize that community is the primary ingredient for upward mobility—and imperative for leaving poverty behind permanently.
Honestly, it also felt like seven weeks of healing for me. In my twenties, I experienced poverty as a single mother doing her best to make ends meet. Back then, the idea that low-income individuals were creative, capable, and resourceful was not something widely assumed in the benefits systems or nonprofits I encountered. I remember feeling so alone and hopeless while navigating systems like WIC, Food Stamps (now SNAP), housing assistance, TANF, food banks, Medicaid, and more. In fact, I often gave up before I got the help I needed. The systems were so difficult and degrading to navigate that I decided it was easier to go without.
I was also running into what we now call the benefits cliff—though I didn’t know it had a name. I had to make hard decisions all the time: Do I take a higher-paying job and lose the benefits that help me survive and care for my son, or do I stay in a lower-paying one to keep the support I desperately need? Whenever I tried to talk about this with case managers, the response was often some version of, “If you really cared and wanted to change your situation, you’d figure it out. This is a you problem, not a system problem.”
That mindset was so pervasive that nearly 20 years later, when I started working for Circles USA and watched our video about the benefits cliff, I burst into tears. I felt so validated. Not only does it have a name, but people see the problem—and are working on solving it.
So to spend time with a group of incredible people—people who work in these programs and systems, who recognize the problems, who want to help, and who are learning how to put individuals and families back in the driver’s seat—was a healing balm for the young mother I used to be. The one who was just trying to survive and navigate a difficult and lonely world.
I am over the moon about the Circles-Prosperity Agenda partnership. It feels like a match made in heaven. Attending the training has given me tools and resources I’m excited to integrate into our upcoming Ally Training update—one of my top priorities for 2025. And The Prosperity Agenda’s commitment to bringing Circles into their Family-Centered Coaching centers adds an additional layer of support for families and individuals already being served with this new mindset.
To spend time with a group of incredible people—people who work in these programs and systems, who recognize the problems, who want to help, and who are learning how to put individuals and families back in the driver’s seat—was a healing balm for the young mother I used to be.
This experience reminded me that transformation is not only possible—it’s already happening. The partnership between Circles USA and The Prosperity Agenda is not just about shared goals; it’s about shared humanity. We are co-creating a future where dignity, agency, and compassion lead the way. I’m grateful to be part of this movement, to witness the healing that occurs when we truly listen, and to know that the systems that once failed so many of us are being reimagined by those who care deeply and dare to do better. There’s so much good work ahead—and we’re doing it, together.
Read more from Kris on her monthly Circles USA blog, The Learning Curve Chronicles:
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