Welfare reform took on a whole new meaning during an open meeting of the Ames Interfaith Council.Lois Smidt, co-director of Beyond Welfare, spoke at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1015 Hyland Ave., to an audience of about 30 audience members.Together with Family Partners, Smidt shared her dream and plan for Ames residents to be part of a family’s transition back to self-sufficiency.”We believe people need money, friends and a sense of meaning,” she said. “We really believe isolation is one of the biggest problems [with welfare]. Our main goal is connections.”Don Withers, minister at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, said the Ames community should be more than willing to help out.”It’s an innovative group and many people are willing to help,” he said. “The group is exploring new ways of partnership and, with the energy coming out of Ames, I’m sure we can help too.”The program is beneficial in providing a solution to welfare, Withers said.”There’s always a challenge with people on welfare,” he said. “We need to figure out a way for people to get off [of welfare].”Susan Franzen, family partner for Beyond Welfare, said the program was a response to welfare cuts. “We contracted with the State to enable people to get the basic needs,” she said. “After two years of welfare, then having to leave the system, they become the working poor.”Smidt said welfare has many different faces.”[Welfare] participants include single parents and some married couples,” she said. “The requirement for welfare requires one dependent to get cash assistance from the government.”If the government is not able to provide all services to welfare participants, Beyond Welfare will also provide additional help, Smidt said. “We get to stay involved for the long term,” she said. “Some recipients will not be eligible for [U.S] Department of Human Services program with their income. That’s why family partnering is helpful.”Terry Pickett, family partner for Beyond Welfare, also said the program is beneficial.”Because community involvement is so important, this involvement is woven into character,” he said. “We can’t eliminate poverty without people.”Being a family partner is “on my list of important things in my life,” Pickett said.”We work with issues and meet once a week for an hour,” he said. “Every other week we talk about budget and goals, and the other weeks we just talk. We work together on both kinds of issues. That’s my role — to be available. I started because I wanted to help. I can’t believe what I experience when I get outside myself.”