Our vision is to be the leader in empowering individuals in their transformation to economic independence.
Connections to Success (CtS) is a 21-year-old Missouri nonprofit organization, founded by a husband-and-wife team, Kathy and Brad Lambert, who both left the corporate world to pursue their passion of helping adults and their families escape the trappings of poverty. In its early beginnings, CtS was primarily focused on providing services to low-income single moms transitioning into the workforce, a population predominantly receiving public assistance.
Recognizing that obtaining and maintaining employment required more than a business suit and a resume, CtS rapidly expanded its service model to comprehensively address the variety of barriers faced by individuals through programs promoting life skills, financial education, career development, computer training and mentoring. Today, the organization has grown to more than 50 full-time employees working from offices in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas.
The Mission
Our vision is to be the leader in empowering individuals in their transformation to economic independence.
Our signature program, “Pathways to Success” was created to empower low-income individuals coming from life-scarring experiences, such as generational poverty, incarceration and domestic violence, to set and achieve positive results for themselves and their families. This program begins with evidence-based training called Personal and Professional Development (PPD), a 72-hour class providing intensive, structured services including cognitive behavioral skills, responsible parenting, healthy family relationships and communication skills, along with workforce readiness training including asset building, financial management and completion of career assessments.
Upon completion of PPD, participants have options to proceed with a selected education/vocational training program or begin a job search. Each participant is assigned a life coach, job developer and mentor to assist them in pursuing their goals outlined in their life plan created during the training. This program, which started in 2001, has assisted thousands of adults in achieving economic stability and allowed CtS to fulfill its mission.
What Would You Do with $5,000 and a Day of Service?
CtS provides transportation for many of our participants during training classes, job search activities and other important engagements. We would use this $5,000 as a match for other donations needed to purchase a used passenger van.
For the Day of Service, we have scheduled our annual Power Walk fundraiser for Saturday September 14, 2019. We need committee members and volunteer teams to participate in various support activities.