# Breaking the Poverty Cycle: Winchester CCAP's THRIVE Project

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-valley-today-1144037/breaking-the-poverty-cycle-winchester-ccap-s-thrive-project
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-valley-today-1144037/breaking-the-poverty-cycle-winchester-ccap-s-thrive-project.md
Podcast: [The Valley Today](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-valley-today-1144037)
Published: 2026-06-08T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thevalleytodaypodcast.com/breaking-the-poverty-cycle-winchester-ccaps-thrive-project
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thevalleytoday/20260608VT.mp3?dest-id=2999852
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-valley-today-1144037/episodes/breaking-the-poverty-cycle-winchester-ccap-s-thrive-project
Duration seconds: 1800

## Resource

Crisis aid keeps the lights on this month. The THRIVE Project is built to make sure there isn't a next crisis. On this episode of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael sits down at the United Way office with longtime friend Andrea Cosans, Executive Director of Winchester CCAP, to talk about the most ambitious project of her CCAP tenure — a multi-agency, grant-funded initiative that will take up to 50 ALICE-population clients through a year of intensive support (case management, therapy, life coaching, financial literacy, job training) and follow them for a second year to see if it sticks. Andrea walks through the small-scale pilots that got her here — five clients, then ten, with results so strong they convinced funders to back a $112,000 expansion — and the partner agencies who said yes to building it together: Connected Communities, I'm Just ME, United Way Northern Shenandoah Valley, Horizon Goodwill, and Family Promise. Plus a much bigger argument about how nonprofits in this community actually do collaborate, and why "too many nonprofits, too much overlap" is the wrong story to tell about the people doing this work. Plus details on two upcoming CCAP fundraisers: An Evening of Enchantment (June 18th) and the 6th Annual Benefit Bike Ride (August 22nd). IN THIS EPISODE (00:00) Why this conversation is happening at the United Way office (it'll make sense in a minute) (00:30) CCAP's history — founded 1974 to help the population we now call ALICE (01:00) Why preventing homelessness is cheaper than fixing it (01:30) What CCAP's financial aid actually covers — rent, mortgage, utilities, heating, car repair (02:00) Why CCAP is, by design, a Band-Aid — and why a Band-Aid isn't enough (02:30) The origin story: a Legacy Wellness therapist, a life coach, a conference, and $1,000…

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