Discover the Power of POSITIVE MOVEMENTS INC

Our objective is to provide various programs and support that assist with the development of youth, individuals with disabilities, felons, veterans, active military, individuals that are homeless and other individuals lacking the skills and resources to further their education, obtain employment, and/or develop the skills and training needed to achieve success. 

Over time, the issues identified within the community have had a substantial effect on the employment rate, graduation rate, recidivism rate, poverty rate, and the rate of inequality. Our programs are designed to address and resolve these issues, as well as invest in the individuals in the community to make our community stronger.   

Our programs address major issues in the Muscogee County community, such as an inefficient transit system, high rate of inequality, increased poverty, recidivism, counterproductive workforce development programs, insufficient resources in education, improper guidance for high school athletes, ineffective college preparation assistance, lack of knowledge in financial management, and limited youth development programs. We provide the support to help obtain and sustain a productive lifestyle.

In underserved communities, students normally lack guidance for college preparation. Parents either do not have the time, between working more than one job, or the education and/or knowledge to assist their child with the college process. The graduation rate in our community decreases as students migrate from high school to college certificates to college degrees; demonstrating a high rate of families that lack college graduates. This program assists students from ninth grade to twelfth grade; walking them through the process of utilizing school resources, attending college seminars and onsite college campus tours, skills training, youth internships/apprenticeships, first-time employment opportunities, SAT/ACT assistance, college application assistance, financial management, career guidance, and scholarship opportunities. For workforce development, students receive job readiness training, mock interviewing, resume writing, and job placement, if applicable. Parents of these students are provided educational seminars to assist in making sound decision for their child's college education.

 “Columbus has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes – from the smallest towns to the largest cities.” (Neighborhoodscout.com, 2023). There is an immediate need for programs that focus on the youth in the community. Neighborhood recreation centers are a thing of the past, leaving kids with no out-of-school positive environment. This causes them to turn to the streets, ultimately turning to crime. Columbus also has a history of star athletes getting through high school and not being able to pass college entry exams to get into prominent colleges and universities. Due to the high risk of injuries in some sports, it is also important that athletes are provided the resources to sustain their lifestyles after their athletic careers. This program provides mentorship and guidance for youth athletes throughout high school. Students in this program have access to summer education programs, entrepreneurship training, and financial management that includes maintaining a bank account, savings plan and understanding credit. These students will receive opportunities for community volunteer programs and recommendation letters that support a strong college portfolio. They also receive assistance with SAT/ACT testing, college seminars, and onsite college campus visits. Parents of these students are provided educational seminars to better assist with their ability to make sound decisions for their student college careers. 

Most of the resources in our community come from various organizations that lack the capacity to provide the full services of need. Individuals must go to different organizations to meet their complete needs, and with there already being an issue with a limited transit system, some individuals are unable to receive the full training and education they need to get into better jobs. Our objective is to provide a full-service workforce development program, in one location, that addresses every aspect of what is needed to enhance the skills and knowledge of our constituents.  

Recidivism has been a major issue in our community. The Muscogee County Sheriff's office implemented an outreach initiative to help decrease the rate in 2021. Part of this initiative is providing released inmates with packets that contain information for organizations that provide support they may need. A lot of the organizations lack the necessary blueprint needed to counteract this issue: a program that teaches them the skills, provides employment training, and connects them to life-sustaining resources. This program supports inmates in the prerelease process or who have been currently released from jail or prison who seek reformation. We provide job readiness training, personal and social adjustment training, workforce development training, and other resources needed to help them transform their lives and not reenter the system. Our program supports the sustainability of these individuals by providing them with interviewing skills, soft and hard skills training, resume writing, job coaching, job placement, counseling services, temporary housing, transportation, and clothing. We work with these individuals for six to eight weeks, depending on their needs, in job readiness and personal and social adjustment training; preparing them for the workforce. We partner with businesses and organizations that allow individuals with the proper qualifications opportunities for employment. We also have a job coaching program that provides those who have never worked or who have limited work experience with a chance to obtain a job by volunteering for two to three weeks in an open position. Our job coaches remain onsite with these individuals to help assist with job duties they need to learn. After completing the two or three week volunteer work, the employer decides if they are wiling to hire them for the position. We conduct monthly visits to job sites for the first 90 days of employment for supervisor evaluation updates to ensure the individual has demonstrated the ability to maintain the job.  

The current public transit system is operated by METRA, the city bus transit system. Over the years, there has been an issue with insufficient routes, the hours of operation not fitting the needs of the individuals who use the system, and no transit coordination for those who need to travel from Columbus to Ft. Moore. Ft. Moore has an economic impact of $4.75 billion dollars and provides over 7,000 jobs to residents in the Columbus area. Having the ability to transport workers to the base will enhance opportunities available to individuals who are currently limited in job opportunities due to this transportation issue. Our goal is to provide a transit system that rectifies these issues; 24-hour transit availability to help individuals get back and forth to job interviews and jobs throughout the city of Columbus, to include Ft. Moore. Eventually, we intend to provide safe transportation services to the soldiers at Ft. Moore in need of transport services from the base to the city. To be effective in our efforts it would take about eight vans to provide these services and ensure that all we are able to supply the demand for the number of individuals needing this service around the city.