Spotlight on Services: Employment and Life Skills Programming

Written By: The Women’s Center staff

August 22, 2019

Many of our clients have both practical and economic barriers to safety and self-sufficiency. Beyond the immediate safety, shelter, and support that we provide from the first moment a client comes to us, we work to empower and enable them to set and reach their goals of self-sufficiency and financial stability.

Through our Employment Counseling and Life Skills Development program, a full-time staff member coordinates group workshops and one-on-one job-readiness coaching sessions. This program promotes self-sufficiency through: cover letter and resume-building, jobseeking assistance, mock interviews, mentoring opportunities with professionals, and transportation to career fairs and interviews. We also provide life skills training to help empower our clients wherever they need support. This can be helping with setting and maintaining a budget, constructing a savings plan, coaching new time management strategies, meal planning, setting and maintaining boundaries in relationships, and more.

Our Life Skills Advocate reflects, “Finding a new job is exciting for everyone, but for the clients we work with, it is also life-changing. Seeing the joy in our clients’ faces after a great interview, hearing from them about how the job that they finally have is opening so many doors for them – it’s the best. Their whole demeanor changes, their confidence shifts, and they are empowered.”

Here at The Women’s Center, the success of our clients is our greatest achievement. Helping those we serve create new and brighter futures for themselves is at the heart of all we do, and has been a key part of our programming since our founding in 1977.