Thursday, 19 April 2012 09:26

Center of Hope has a new educational incentive program to assist clients with their outstanding traffic fines.
Center of Hope staff members realized that unpaid traffic fines caused nearly insurmountable difficulties for families trying to get out of the poverty trap and become self-sufficient.
As a result, Adorer of the Blood of Christ Sister Becky Balthazor wanted to find a way to work with the court system and clients to take care of their fines so as to avoid possible jail time, children being separated from their parents, loss of income or their job, and the barriers that come with not having a valid driver’s license.
Sister Becky is now offering an eight-week class that teaches the participants life skills as well as assisting them in developing an action plan to do community service work and make pay arrangements towards their fines.
“Not only are the participants beginning to address the root causes that got them in the situation they are in,” she said, “they are learning life skills of responsibility and accountability for their actions, and in turn are becoming law abiding citizens once again.
The Center of Hope provides emergency financial support to individuals and families in Wichita who may not otherwise qualify for other social service programs.