"Good afternoon. My name is Kim Janey and I am the President and CEO of EMPath or Economic Mobility Pathways. I am honored to testify before the MA Poverty Commission and want to thank and acknowledge its chairs, long-time and stalwart advocates for economic justice and mobility, Representative Marjorie Decker and Senator Sal DiDomenico.

EMPath is celebrating its 200th Anniversary. For its entire existence – we have been on the forefront of helping women and families who have been pushed to the margins. EMPath’s mission is to disrupt poverty while helping other institutions do the same. Our approach is unique. We combine direct services, a global learning network, and research & advocacy for what actually works.

EMPath has a long history of innovating tracing back to our founding in 1824 when we provided shelter for young “unwed mothers." EMPath developed its breakthrough coaching approach – Mobility Mentoring almost 15 years ago. Mobility Mentoring coaching looks at all aspects of a person’s life: everything from stable housing, to finances, to education and training, to their own well-being. What’s unique about our approach is that it puts families in the driver’s seat.

Our approach is designed to offer low-income families the kind of support we all need in order to move forward: coaching around long-term goals, strategizing around short-term roadblocks, and a framework for parsing out what to focus on next. It's a true partnership that helps them not only work towards meeting their basic needs, but also dream big, achieve their biggest goals, and thrive.

With this coaching support, we’ve seen program participants make remarkable strides. Families have doubled their incomes, in addition to earning degrees, saving money, improving their credit scores, reducing their debt, and caring for themselves and their children.

Mobility Mentoring is an approach that has been used successfully in more than 1,000 organizations around the world and can be integrated into almost any existing program such as TAFDC, SNAP, public housing or early education where staff have regular and sustained interaction with participants.

Of the individuals who exited EMPath shelters to stable housing last year, 100 percent remained in stable housing one year later. Upon exiting shelter, EMPath families have improved their credit scores, grown their savings, and strengthened their family stability. Our families go on to secure well-paying jobs, complete educational programs, and some even purchase their own homes.

But we all know that individual approaches alone will not fix the inequality and systematic barriers that keep black and brown people poor. To this end, EMPath’s staff and the families we serve actively advocate at the state and federal level for policy change that will reduce barriers and provide opportunity.

MA needs deeper investments in immediate housing assistance, such as the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, Rental Assistance for Families in Transition, and HomeBASE to tackle our longstanding housing affordability crisis and reduce the overburdened shelter system. In just over two years, nearly 170 families have exited an EMPath shelter using HomeBASE.

With more than 50% of EMPath shelter residents recently arriving from the global south, the state needs to provide free legal assistance and interpreters in every MA shelter to help them get work authorization and begin working.

We also need to continue pushing for affordable and accessible, high-quality early education and care. There are still far too many parents who cannot work or must spend hours on public transit to get their kids in childcare.

The combination of these kinds of systemic supports paired with expertise of a mentor will go along way to addressing inequality, reducing poverty, and promoting opportunity in the Commonwealth.

Thank you."