Sierra Health Foundation Helps Expand Women's Empowerment Program

$25,000 grant will provide more services for Women's Empowerment

Women's Empowerment helps homeless women get healthy, find jobs and regain a home for their families. WE will now provide more services to women who have graduated from the program, thanks to a $25,000 grant from Sierra Health Foundation through its Responsive Grants Program. The second tier of services called WE (Women’s Empowerment) Works! will provide advanced training to formerly homeless women who have developed basic job skills, and social workers will continue to monitor their health needs.

“Health and employment go hand in hand,” said Lisa Culp, executive director, Women’s Empowerment. “When a woman is unhealthy, it can be impossible to work, and when a woman can’t work, she has no money to get healthy. We are honored to partner with Sierra Health Foundation on ensuring women in our program not only get healthy and find jobs, but that they stay healthy and employed.”

Women’s Empowerment provides a two-tiered approach to job-readiness training, offering basic skills in computer literacy, resume writing, interpersonal communication, time management, financial literacy, dressing for success (complete with donated business attire) and job retention. Second-tier training includes GED preparation, online home health care certification courses and hands-on customer service and clerical training.

The group also links homeless and formerly homeless women and their children to health services, including mental health services, recovery and relapse prevention programs, dentists, doctors, nutrition classes, eye exams, glasses, HIV testing, child development assessments, domestic violence classes, anger management, yoga, fitness and more.

Women’s Empowerment is the only job-readiness program exclusively serving homeless women in the greater Sacramento region. The 2009 Nonprofit of the Year has graduated 709 homeless women and their 846 children, with 91 percent of them finding permanent housing and 60 percent finding jobs or enrolling in school, despite the current economy. This unique program combines self-esteem courses, job training, health classes and support services to help homeless women across diverse ages, races and cultures. For more information visit www.womens-empowerment.org.

The Sierra Health Foundation grant was one of 26 awarded by the Sacramento-based private philanthropy, which promotes improved health and quality of life for the people of Northern California. Sierra Health Foundation awarded a total of $528,545 in the second 2010 Responsive Grants Program funding cycle. Through the Responsive Grants Program, Sierra Health Foundation asks nonprofit organizations and public agencies how they can promote and improve health in their communities. Since launching the program in 2008, Sierra Health Foundation has awarded more than $3.2 million to provide support for 120 programs and projects. Sierra Health Foundation serves as a catalyst for ideas, partnerships and programs through convening, educating and strategic grant making. For more information, visit www.sierrahealth.org.