Help Women Persevere Through Change

When you support Women’s Employment Network (WEN), you support connection for women. Here, women build rapport with our staff and with one another, forming valuable and lasting social and professional networks.

Our donors’ generous gifts are hard at work: In summer 2022 WEN launched a new, three-day in-person program. This fresh alternative to our hybrid programming allows women to choose the learning model that works best for their lifestyle.

Progress to Date

WEN’s 2022-23 series of programs and services runs July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. We have seen the following outcomes during our second quarter:

• WEN welcomed 52, 86, and 119 new clients in October, November, and December respectively – 257 total! With 566 total new clients since the start of the program year, we’re well on our way to meeting our goal to welcome 1,000 new clients in 2022-23.
• WEN has had 155, 309, and 214 active clients in October, November, and December. We’re meeting our goal to serve at least 125 active clients every month.
• WEN has served 5,105 unduplicated clients – already far surpassing our annual goal of 1,400!
• 1,481 clients have attended 68 workshops on a variety of topics including Personal Budgeting Tips; How to Get Back in the Workforce and Address Resume Gaps; and The Resilient Woman: Thriving Beyond Your External Circumstances. Our goal this year is to welcome 1,500 attendees to 110 workshops.
• 74 clients have shared with WEN that they have accepted a full-time job. Our clients’ average full-time hourly wage currently stands at $19.25.

What Clients Have to Say

Paulita is a 2018 WEN graduate and the first recipient of the Lynette Williams Scholarship Fund. After graduating high school, Paulita began attending university courses at night in pursuit of a nursing career; but her heart wasn’t in it. When her grades began to slip and student loans came due, Paulita quit school so that she could work to pay off her debt.

This is when Paulita found WEN. She learned that – in her own words – “all my goals could be accomplished; but for that to happen, I had to be the one in charge of seeing them through.” Dedicated to graduating without debt, Paulita made it her goal to earn no grade lower than a B and she began saving money to ease her financial worries.

Today, Paulita is debt-free, has earned almost all A’s in her courses, and holds two associate’s degrees from Metropolitan Community College. The scholarship funding she received in 2021 from WEN will help her complete the 16 remaining credit hours she needs to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She also accepted a full-time position with H&R Block (“I can honestly say, if it wasn’t for WEN’s STAR interview method, I don’t think I would have gotten this position!”) and moved into her own space.

“WEN changed my perspective and made it possible for me to keep going. Thanks again for being such wonderful women who support one another, and for supporting me through this journey in life.”

Links:

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• WEN website