Scott Walker reviews the progress of his clients with a warm smile. He looks over the educational programs’ progress extra hard. He thinks to himself of all the bright children with even brighter futures ahead of them who have LifeWise to thank for this new clear path. The LifeWise non-profit organization has been around for over 122 years. The organization works with helping children as young as five weeks old to senior citizens. LifeWise offers a variety of programs, including early childhood centers, educational after school programs, financial advisers, emotional wellness programs and resilience training for seniors.
LifeWise STL is a nonprofit organization that pulls people out of poverty and teaches them how to work hard and become independent. Scott Walker, CEO of LifeWise STL, began volunteering for LifeWiseSTL 28 years ago, and has been in his current position for over 10 years. According to Walker, through the financial programs provided, LifeWise has touched the lives of about 2,500 people who became more independent through the various programs that are offered. He said nine people bought homes, six bought cars and two businesses were started.
“LifeWise is transformational, it’s not just giving people food and thinking that’s going to solve the problem. If [they’re] hungry today, [they’re] going to be hungry tomorrow,” Walker said. “It makes people self-sufficient and independent. We do it in a very dignified, empowering way.”
Walker said there are many opportunities for other nonprofit organizations to move in the same direction as LifeWise to become more transformational. He said rather than stabilizing people in poverty and just handing them tools to survive, you can provide them skills to lift themselves out.
“Is [poverty] what you want for your own family?” Walker said. “Why would you want it for somebody else to continue to live [in] it?”
Patricia Brown, a client of LifeWise, was in the senior resilience program which provides financial and emotional help to older citizens of lower-income gain access to valuable information, cash for saving and to grow relationships with other seniors in the community. Brown was introduced to the LifeWise organization from a friend and has been with them ever since. She said she now helps the charity in their family and community council.
“I came to the program because it has life skills,” Brown said “The goal is to help people [in senior resilience] become educated about emergency funds and beneficial skills.”
