Circles NWA is an innovative response to poverty in our community. First United Presbyterian Church has a beautiful campus with a well-appointed kitchen and lots of great meeting spaces. We’re banding together to help reduce poverty in Northwest Arkansas.

Circles will be meeting at FUPC on Wednesdays from 6-8PM starting this fall, serving meals to approximately 100 people each week. This is an opportunity for FUPC to serve our neighbors in a new way.

The meals, prepared by volunteers, nourish the Circles community and also symbolize the support which is at the center of the Circles philosophy.

Volunteers from FUPC have been working with Circles NWA for over a year.

What is Circles?

Circles NWA is a poverty reduction program that puts low-income individuals and families in the center of a circle of allies who are volunteers from more affluent backgrounds. The object is to provide social capital — the supportive circles of friends and connections most of us rely on every day. Often, people with fewer material resources also lack these connections across socio-economic divides. Each Circle Leader is matched with two to three Allies.

Allies commit to walking alongside their Circle Leader over the course of 18 months as the Circle Leaders work to increase income, grow their support system, and develop as leaders in the community. The Circle Leaders develop and move toward goals relating to training, career, living circumstances, and other life changes.

Circles NWA will be recruiting volunteer Allies for their new cohort to start in September. Learn more about Circles NWA.