Our goal: a healthier Hilton Head Island
Circles
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Circles is all about leadership. It's about removing the stigma of poverty and giving people the confidence and support they need to succeed. It's about community.
The Circles program consists of in-person training and weekly meetings. We gather middle-income and high-income volunteers to support families who are struggling. Participants (called Circle Leaders) build friendships with volunteers (called Allies). Every week, Leaders, Allies and their families come together, share a meal, and learn from each other. The children participate in our Children's Program while parents engage over the evening's topic . The Leaders set goals, create budgets, find resources and share experiences.
Over time, these relationships help families climb out of poverty and achieve financial stability. As barriers that keep people in poverty are identified, participants become advocates who work to resolve those issues in our community. Subsequently, the opportunities and obstacles families experience are shared with the larger Hilton Head Island community, so successes can be celebrated, and the barriers can be overcome.
This process not only changes people’s lives— it changes the communities in which people live.
We have a model that works
Our participants achieve a 69% increase in income after six months and a 78% increase in income after 18 months. Participants continue to increase their income–even after the 18-month period.
Circles USA stories
Infographic overview
Words can never truly express how grateful I am for the support
that Deep Well has provided me and my family throughout my life. From the time I was a child, they have been a constant source of support and have helped shape me into the person I am today.
Growing up, Deep Well donated toys every year for Christmas to my brother and I up until we were 12 years old. Some years, Deep Well gifts were the only presents we had under our Christmas tree. Aside from all the Christmas gifts, they always provided my family with a holiday meal and when we began school they provided us with school uniforms and school supplies. However, the most memorable thing as a child wasn’t the gifts or the food, it was the kindhearted people who delivered this to my family and me. They carried the biggest smiles on their faces and had the sweetest personalities.
Deep Well didn’t just provide resources, they gave me something more important—hope and inspiration. They have supported me physically and emotionally and gave me a sense of belonging. Through them and the Circles Program, I was given the tools and resources I needed to grow. They gave me educational support and mentorship that has changed my life. I’ve seen a significant increase in my yearly income, and I’ve learned important skills that I will use throughout my life.
I’ve been provided the wonderful opportunity of a scholarship so I’m currently at TCL for my associate’s degree in early childcare and education and plan to continue my education at USCB.
After all these years, I look back with immense gratitude at all the ways Deep Well has shaped my life. Their impact goes beyond what words can fully capture. They’ve provided me with the foundation to build a better future and because of them, and their generosity, I can continue to grow and feel inspired to someday help others the way they have helped me.
Julie facilitating a lesson at the Children's Center
Testimonial:
Deep Well/Circles didn’t just provide resources, they have given me something more important—hope and inspiration. They have supported me physically and emotionally and given me a sense of belonging.
Julie's Story
Our vision is that everyone
has enough money, meaning, and friends to thrive.
We seek to inspire and equip communities to reduce poverty and remove the barriers that stand in the way.
When some people live in poverty, everyone in the community pays a price. Adults who cannot provide for their families and contribute to the community report feelings of isolation, shame, and depression. On the community level, having residents who depend on government assistance drains precious resources.
But when people achieve financial security, they experience a surge of pride and confidence. Often, they say they have regained their dignity, their value, and their humanity. And the local economy benefits as more families move off assistance and start contributing to the tax base.
The work of reducing poverty rests not only in the
hands of those experiencing poverty but also in
the hands of the communities around them.
Poverty reduction is not simply a humanitarian goal—it’s an economic imperative.
Indeed, a solution to poverty exists, and it is
nonpartisan. Many conservatives believe the
answer lies in people accepting more personal
responsibility. Many liberals believe the key to reducing poverty involves providing more benefits. At Circles USA, we believe the right and the left can work together to reduce and eradicate poverty. Our model focuses both on what individuals can do to change their situations and on what communities can do to remove the barriers that stand in their way.
Circles USA is not a faith-based program. It is intended for
any community group, government agency, or nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce poverty. Yet, faith-based organizations do use the Circles model as a way to give their members an opportunity to work with their community.
38% of households in Beaufort County, SC
are below the federal poverty line and classified as the "working poor"
We have been conditioned to believe poverty is an unavoidable problem of society.
What if that’s not true? What if we have normalized a condition we could actually solve?
- Founder of Circles USA, Scott C. Miller