Women's Empowerment

This year, we are focused on ensuring women are holistically prepared to get and keep jobs and climb the career ladder so they can afford their own apartment. Each woman begins with our comprehensive nine-week employment-readiness and Empowerment program. She receives free transportation assistance and childcare for children up to age 5 in our onsite child development center. She works one on one with our social worker, employment specialist, job developer and housing specialist while attending classes on job-readiness, financial literacy, computer skills, Empowerment and more many taught by skilled community volunteers.

To improve housing outcomes for women we serve, Women's Empowerment recently became a sublessor at golden lofts in downtown sacramento, subleasing five sros to qualifying Women's Empowerment graduates for an 18-month lease. Each tenant is carefully screened and charged rent equal to our rent payment. She must meet monthly with our housing specialist, social worker and employment specialist, as well as a credit repair specialist from one of our nonprofit partners. We have additional graduates subleasing from us in another home. We also are exploring partnerships with other housing communities in the area. In 2022, we has made great efforts in expanding this model and anticipates seeing results in the upcoming fiscal year.

We were proud to create new paid training partnerships this year as we honed our current programs. In october, we successfully partnered with wellspace health to provide paid training to our graduates to become medical assistants and medical case managers. All trainees, upon completion of the training, are guaranteed employment at one of the wellspace clinics.

In 2023, Women's Empowerment (we) extended its subleasing program by securing several units at the trellis gardens cottages where graduates who are employed can start slowly transitioning into market-rate housing. We obtained funding from the american rescue plan act (arpa) through the county of sacramento to sustain this transitional housing program in which families can afford the rent as it increases gradually. The program began on may 2023 when the first contract with the county was signed and will continue through december 2026 provided funding is available. In 2023, we served twelve families under this program which also includes financial capabilities classes, ready to rent, a nationally recognized certification program, as well as wrap around services that buoys their success and allows them to build their credit, begin a savings account, increase their income and reclaim their lives and futures. They begin to define themselves by who they are and what they contribute to their community rather by their lack of housing.