Partners

MU Extension in Laclede County does a financial simulation at Paving the Way. Each student receives a packet with a job, an income, and a life situation. Then they work through stations set up around the room. Groceries, housing, health insurance, transportation, and all the things that make adult life go.

Insurance isn’t just about policies. It’s about helping people understand what they have and why it matters.

FSCB volunteers work with students on budgeting, credit scores, debt, saving money, and the financial decisions they’ll face as they step into adulthood. The kind of information most adults had to figure out the hard way.

Jasha Conner lost her son Jaden in a reckless driving crash. She could have responded with anger. Instead, she chose grace. And now she and Eva Sherrer stand together in front of teenagers and talk about what decisions behind the wheel can cost.

Nancy Moore from H&R Block works with our Paving the Way students to walk them through the basics of filing taxes.

The Laclede County Sheriff’s Office works with our Paving the Way students, demonstrating how to interact with law enforcement and what a positive traffic stop can look like.

Proclamations. Events. The moments when something just needs to get done and someone needs to show up ready to work. B.A.C.A. is there. Every time. With huge smiles and hearts to match.

The Cross Christian School is built on people who show up.

Kids become adults whether anyone prepares them for it or not.

Community is only as strong as the relationships between the people working in it. When the network holds together, kids don’t fall through it.

Garner & Smith Insurance has been part of this community for nearly fifty years. Long enough to watch a lot of Yellowjacket football games. They know most of the families in those stands by name.

For kids coming into foster care, a dental appointment is often one of the first things that hasn’t happened in a long time.

They built a tiny town on West Elm Street where kids can just be kids. A general store. A post office. Cars to drive. Room to imagine.

Vintage Flower Market is where you go when you are grieving. When you can’t wait to celebrate. When your heart is so full it feels like it may burst out of your chest.

158 pillowcases. A truckload of food from Salt Lake City. Christmas morning for 42 foster families. They don’t wait to be asked twice.

Very few things outlive the person who started them.

Ninety-eight children are going home with a beach towel that has their name on it. Richland Lodge covered the cost.

That’s the thing about this community. Ask and people say yes. Every single time.

Serving your community is just what you do when you’re part of something bigger than your business.

Ozark Fiber understands something simple. Connection isn’t optional. Belonging isn’t a feature. It’s what holds a place together.

Foster families needed a night to breathe. This community made it happen.

They know what it feels like when a community decides you belong in it.

Elevate Lebanon joins Paving the Way to add additional workforce readiness, resume skills, and guaranteed employer interviews to the program.

This is what it looks like when a company sends the right person into a community and trusts her to be exactly who she is.

Not just a restaurant. A place where people meet, stay a little longer, and truly belong.

They know what community looks like. They’ve been feeding it for years.

When you walk in here, you can feel what it was like in 1927.

Today, Oakland Community Church is still on that hill. Every month, they give to the children of the Ozarks.142 years of giving. And counting.

JustServe shows up for what matters most in our community.

CarePortal connects real, local needs to people who are willing to help meet them right when it matters.

There are churches… and then there are churches that live it out every day.

Every child deserves the comfort and stability of a bed of their own.

Since the beginning, Prosperine has faithfully supported Live 2 Give Hope as a monthly donor. Small church. Big heart.

About 50 students from two youth groups from Team FBC spent part of their Saturday serving our community.

This is what it looks like when organizations who love the same community find each other in a parking lot on a grey morning and just get to work.