Yes! Magazine
Connie Allen started a support group for friends adjusting to smaller incomes.
When peals of laughter floated up the stairs, the librarian asked Connie Allen what her group was laughing about. After all, hadn’t they formed to deal with the restrictions of living on limited income? What makes that any fun?
The group was based on an insight of Connie’s, who started a “Resource Sharing Group” in South Paris, Maine. “I knew several people who were living with limited income either because of unemployment, under-employment, retirement, or voluntary simplicity,” she says. “And I thought, if we put this group together, we could all benefit from it. It would make life easier for all of us.”
She was right. But what she didn’t expect was how much fun they would have.
“We used to meet in the basement of the local library, about twelve of us, each week,” explains Connie. “The librarian was always asking us what we were laughing at. Somehow we just always had a lot of fun when we met. And we helped each other in all kinds of ways.”
At each meeting, members of the group said what they needed, and what they could offer. “Usually by the time we got around the circle, the needs had been addressed, or at least ideas had been shared about how to address them,” says Connie.
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