Coalition for Economic Empowerment
WISH LIST: $100: transportation tokens for 20 adults attending job interviews; $500: field trip for 45 kids to see the world outside public housing; $1000: crucial computer upgrades for resume writing and homework
The Coalition for Economic Empowerment works in the nine-acre Brookland Manor public housing community where single parents head 290 of 315 families and 70% of households earn less than $10,000 a year. In 2003, nearly a third of teen girls were pregnant, 60% of youth were truant, and 40% were in the juvenile justice system. The Teen Empowerment Initiative focuses on personal responsibility planning, conflict resolution, character development, and tutoring. In 2003, zero teens in the program graduated from high school; in 2008, 29 graduated, a very significant indicator of success. The Parent Empowerment Initiative means that mothers and fathers receive critical parenting and employment support, including counseling, financial literacy, resume writing, and job placement assistance (participants have a 42% job placement rate to date). The challenges - for teens who lack academic and personal support, and for single parents caught in an intergenerational cycle of welfare dependency - are daunting; but the program works. Your support means hope and change for entire families.
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