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Having previously lived and worked as a single mother who used to depend on food stamps, Hallie Duckworth knows the difficulties that such women face on a daily basis, from finding daycare to affordable housing.
In an effort to help these women and others in Madison County who are dealing with these issues and living on low incomes, Duckworth has started a new group to give people the skills and confidence they need to become self-sufficient.
"We are about giving a hand up, not a hand out," said Duckworth, who previously worked at Christmas Village, a Christian home for women with unplanned pregnancies based in Canton.
The Hand-up In Success (HIS) Foundation had its official launch at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison on Sept. 11, although the organization was established by Duckworth and her husband Ron in November of last year.
HIS is a Christian volunteer charitable ministry that plans to partner with local agencies to help provide the basic needs to people in need, such as food, clothing and housing, primarily to women who are struggling single parents.
"They really need to have a transformation in their lives, and we believe that can only happen through Christ," Duckworth said.
In addition to these services, HIS will also work closely with individuals to craft individual plans designed to help them succeed in the long term.
The organization plans to provide transitional housing, although not free of charge, and teach day-to-day skills at a resource and counseling center.
These skills include drawing up personal and family budgets, planning meals, and also person-to-person interaction to help them succeed in the job market.
Other basic employment skills such as computer use will also be taught, and there are hopes that courses in the restaurant business will also be provided eventually.
The idea, according to Duckworth, is to teach women struggling with everyday life how to manage their resources and develop the habits of success.
"In a sense, we provide our clients with a personal life coach, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," Ron Duckworth said.
Eventually, one of the goals of HIS is to get the women enrolled in a GED program or referred to the WIN Job Center in Canton to help them take the next step to finding steady employment.
Hallie Duckworth said that currently, there is no other organization in Madison County that aims to provide the same kind of services and long-term skills as HIS. She and her husband saw a need and decided to fill it, she said.
"That's what everybody needs in the community now, to be successful with jobs," Hallie Duckworth said.
HIS will largely work within Canton and work with single mothers there, although there are also plans for the organization to hold a fatherhood initiative eventually.
The group has not yet found a site for the transitional housing, although Duckworth said that she and her husband are searching hard for the right spot.
Duckworth knows from her experience that the basic skills HIS hopes to provide can be the foundation for success. From food stamps and single motherhood, she rose to become executive director of the Mississippi Health Connection, a managed health care network.
She hopes that her personal career path can provide the kind of inspiration and energy to HIS to make it succeed.
"This is just something that started in our hearts," Duckworth said.
By ANDREW UJIFUSA
Assistant Managing Editor
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