From Poverty To Prosperity By Rev. Tony Pierce

“I can’t believe my life was saved by solar,” said Candice Byrd.

The YEARS Project (theyearsproject.org), a video production group out of New York City, owned by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Titanic Movie Producer James Cameron, contacted Illinois People’s Action’s (IPA) earlier this year to make a documentary about the green-energy work of IPA (illinoispeoplesaction.org). Their interest in producing this video documentary focused upon the impact the state’s new green-energy legislation would have on the transformation of the lives of individuals most impacted. The video documentary spotlights the green-energy work of Heaven’s View Christian Fellowship Church Corporation (HVCFC), along with IPA, throughout the greater Peoria Area and other communities. HVCFC, whose social enterprise mission is moving individuals and families out of poverty into the middle class, also serves as the implementation arm of IPA. We are blessed to be able to share in this documentary video the testimonies of individuals during their journey from poverty to prosperity.

HVCFC’s Community Transformation Ministry (CTM) brand focuses upon the transformation of poverty into prosperity on a regional basis by way of training, legislation, and the provision of middle-class jobs. That transformation can best be accomplished through the collaboration of for-profit and not-for-profit entities working together. Our goal via that transformation is to provide individuals and families opportunities for gainful employment, adequate education, healthcare, and housing. Individuals and families that possess those four critical core benefits in our nation can successfully and independently manage their own lives without having to depend on public assistance to do so.

The video documentary focuses upon that trajectory from poverty to prosperity through the transformative impact of CTM and IPA’s involvement in getting Illinois’ new green energy legislation approved into law. Called the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), the legislation passed through the Illinois General Assembly in Springfield in September 2021. As the video followed the evolution of CEJA, it focused upon the transformative impact of CTM in the lives of the three individuals, Candice Byrd, Tyrone Brown, and Rachi Robertson.

As IPA Board President, I along with a host of others, including local individuals, Don and Dawn Dannenbring-Carlson, Tracy Fox, Joyce Harant, Cheryl Parks, and the late Pastor Alphonso Lyons. Jr. invite you to view the 11-minute video A Bright Future Saving Lives With Green Jobs, which shares a vision of lives transformed along their journey from poverty to prosperity.

The eleven-minute video documentary can be viewed at www.communitytransformationministry.org.