The Crisis: 36.5 million Americans currently live in poverty. The United States is the richest country in the world. Yet with 12.3% of the U.S. population living in poverty, our nation is suffering through an enormous societal crisis. It’s a problem that’s not only measured by the intangible, personal stories of family hardship and heartache, but also by a real cost burden to society of $500 billion per year (Center for American Progress). It’s a grim picture, but one that is slowly changing through innovations like Circles®, a high-impact strategy to end poverty in our nation one community at a time. The Solution: Circles®, an innovative campaign designed to eliminate poverty. The Circles® Campaign is a transformational approach that partners volunteers and community leaders like you with families in need. With your help, we can: Uplift 50,000 low-income families as they move themselves permanently out of poverty. Empower people from every economic class to solve poverty in their communities. Provide families with the training, networking, and social capital essential to get out of poverty. Change the systemic barriers and policies that lock people into poverty. Early results demonstrate that for every $1 spent on the program, $2 in welfare and food stamp subsidies was returned to the state, and $4 to the community as new earned income.