The following are big steps, and if you take them, you will ensure that your neighbors have the opportunities that any of us would need in order to obtain long-term economic stability. For smaller actions that still pack a punch, visit the Action Guide.

Choose your area and click on the idea to learn more.

1. Employment

• Create apprenticeships in your business

• Establish the mentoring profession in your community

2. Child Care

• Form child care partnerships with other sectors

3. Housing

• Implement the cost-benefit eviction plan

4. Education

• Revolutionize public education in your community

Private sector apprenticeships

1. One 12-month apprenticeship per year made available to individuals over the age of 18 living in households that receive public assistance, based on their annual family income

2. If your business has over 100 employees, consider two apprenticeships per year. At 200 or more employees, consider three apprenticeships per year.

3. If the apprentice performs satisfactorily or above, the apprenticeship is turned into a full-time position

4. This is a win-win because businesses already experience turnover at a rate of 10-15% per year. This allows somewhat of a promotion from within and builds loyalty while providing a social benefit outside of the company product.

Creation of a mentoring industry

1. Certification process developed for young people with lived experience that includes paid training from day one

2. Academic degrees provided to the same population that is next level to the certification and offered at local two- and four-year institutions

3. A continuing education model of professional training and support during school days for mentors, who then meet with mentees during selected periods of the school day

4. There is a long runway from childhood poverty to prison, violence, and other destructive outcomes. At any point along the way, the mentorship profession will be a positive and accessible turn to take. It will allow young people to give back to the next generation, perhaps the generations of their younger siblings or their children. It will allow them to use their experiences - positive or negative - as teaching tools. It will allow them to combine their challenges and their love for their communities and people who live there, be it individuals living in rural, suburban, or urban settings.

5. The development of a mentorship profession turns their challenges into the experiences that will help them to build a successful mentoring career.

6. Full-time mentor jobs are unique to the education field, not treated as less than or a sub-profession of teaching or any other position in education

7. Mentors recruited, trained, and paid at the level necessary to keep up with demand, as in any other profession

8. Every parent/family with an annual income less than the NPPS and who wish to have a mentor for their children receives a full-time mentor

9. Foundations, corporations, and many sectors of society have been talking about social justice with great determination, yet families and young people in poverty are experiencing economic hardship at a higher rate than ever before. This program provides a solution and allows everyone to put their funding and funding priorities where they are needed most - in the most vulnerable communities, and specifically with the most vulnerable members of those communities.

10. Salary structure - the profession will be supported equally by numerous sectors of the local economy, not just government - that will immediately pay living wage salaries (based on local NPPS) and that is scaled up to provide economic stability at the rate of other education professions

11. The initial goal is to develop a national initiative that builds a mentoring profession, complete with licensure that precedes and then stems from an accredited academic program. The mentorship degree is to be marketed as a high school and college track.

12. The mentor profession and career path is a win-win: 1.) providing career opportunities to individuals who may have believed their past had precluded them from success in the professional world - and all that comes with that - and 2.) providing mentors to the very young in order to help them succeed amidst the stress of poverty and to learn from people who can understand precisely the challenges of living without economic stability and resources

Child Care

1. Businesses pay for local churches, temples, or other faith communities located within one mile of the business to be certified as child care facilities.

2. The businesses also pay for licensing of church volunteers to serve as the child care facilitators

3. The child care facility is open until 8:00 pm to allow employees to put in the time they wish to work

4. Employees who make less than 120% of the NPSS do not pay for the child care and have guaranteed placement for their children.

5. If employees making more than 120% of NPPS want to utilize the child care, they pay a sliding scale, which pays for potential staffing should resources require that.

6. Financial Security

• Savings

7. Basic Needs

• Create Food Oases

8. Health

• Wellness Access

• Build Recreational Facilities

9. Transportation

• Cut Down Commutes