YORK, Pa.-- It's a situation no family wants to find themselves in.
"I was one of those in the community who was a have not," Salvation Army Major Erma Camuti said.
She remembers as a child not being as fortunate and living in poverty.
"I remember I would wait until there was none of my classmates around before going in and getting my free meal ticket," she said.
This is when she said she wanted to be out of poverty.
"I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to keep from being the third generation person on the welfare system," she said.
Now she is helping to get other people out of poverty. The Salvation Army unveiled its Pathway for Hope program in York Thursday. The program is aimed at helping people out of poverty. It is an assistance program that is being used in other parts of the country and is now coming to York, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Reading.
"They need to have the desire to rise above the poverty level to get themselves to the point of being self sufficient," Major Camuti said.
Salvation Army case manager will work with the people in support socially and spiritually. They will also work with connecting them with services for jobs, health, housing, childcare, educational, and legal services. The program runs for at least six months and up to two years.
"You work with the entire family, not just the parents," case worker Migdalia Inoa said. "It's geared toward the entire family."
The idea is to break the cycle of poverty. According to the Salvation Army, children who are raised in poverty for more than half their childhood are 32 times more likely to be in poverty as an adult.
"I want to encourage the children's hearts that they don't have to be in that same rut. They can rise above it by helping the parents and encouraging the parents to come out of that poverty into self sufficiency," Major Camuti.
Right now there is one family in York enrolled in the program. They are looking for about 10 to join for the year.