NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Amanda Vega, a Circle Leader who went through the program at Circles of Hope Reno County, explained to Hutch Post where she was when she became a part of Circles.
"I was at work and had all these bills in front of me. And when I tell you, I was so overwhelmed with all these bills. My co-worker, Anthony Frischenmeyer, he was just trying to live his best life and just trying to go to lunch. Well, he saw me just overwhelmed and I almost started crying because that's a lot. Like, I don't know. I didn't know how to budget or do anything like that because it wasn't something I was allowed to do before. So he told me, come to Circles. I said, why? He goes, just trust me on this. Just come to Circles, and if nothing, at least you get a dinner from it, and that's what I did."
Going to that first meeting was a turning point in this single mother's journey in taking care of her five kids.
"Going to Circles that night for dinner, everybody was just so welcoming," Vega said. "Nobody just judged you. Everybody was like, hey, it's good to meet you. Come on in."
Circle Leaders work with Allies, who are people in the community who can show them where different choices can point them in a different direction.
"What got me to the point is me working with my allies. I have the numbers guy, Kevin. He can tweak my budget and he'll tell me if I can do this, if I can't do this," Vega said. "Then when I finally had that emergency fund, when I had the emergency fund, Caroline was able to just go and say, this is what we saved it for. We can spend this money and fix this tire. We got this. We can do this. She really de-escalated the situation, and her husband came with the numbers and I was able to spend that money without freaking out because somebody who's never had a savings account or an emergency fund, like I held onto that, like with the death grip."
According to CNBC, nearly half of Americans have $500 or less in their savings accounts, an amount that leaves them vulnerable to unexpected expenses, according to a GOBankingRates survey of 1,063 U.S. adults conducted in November 2023.
An informational night for potential Circle Leaders at 1602 North Main is Thursday, Aug. 22 at Trinity United Methodist Church at 5:30 p.m. Enter through the door with the red awning off the parking lot.