Women’s Empowerment Receives $25K From Save Mart CARES

Save Mart CARES has donated $25,000 to help homeless women in Sacramento find homes and jobs to support their families through Women’s Empowerment’s comprehensive job readiness program. The mission of Women’s Empowerment aligns closely with the mission of Save Mart CARES, which supports programs that have a record of results and contribute to the advancement of community, arts, recreation, education or sports. 

“A significant measure of a community’s health is how many of its residents are employed,” said Lisa Culp, executive director, Women’s Empowerment. “Women who experience homelessness face profound barriers in their search for employment, so we empower them with tools to overcome those hurdles and secure jobs that will support their families. We are grateful to Save Mart CARES for recognizing that when women rise from homelessness, the entire community rises with them.”

In Women’s Empowerment’s initial eight-week program, women who are homeless receive free onsite child care in the group’s child development center and transportation assistance. Each woman works with a master’s level social worker to address her root causes of homelessness. She attends classes on job readiness, confidence building, health and empowerment, as well as support groups for domestic violence and substance abuse. Women then focus on job placement with their employment specialist and volunteer career mentor. Women who have graduated from the eight-week program can enroll in the group’s graduate services at any point in their lives when they need assistance. Services include paid job training, vocational certifications, counseling with a social worker and employment specialist, access to a professional clothing closet, financial coaching and job retention services for employer and employee.  

Women’s Empowerment was featured on NBC’s The TODAY Show in 2015 for offering the most comprehensive job-readiness program in the Sacramento area designed specifically for women who are homeless and their children. The award-winning organization has graduated 1,386 homeless women and their 3,750 children. Last year, 92 percent of graduates found homes and 81 percent found jobs or enrolled in school or training. The program combines self-esteem courses, job training, health classes and support services to help homeless women across diverse ages, races and cultures. Women’s Empowerment is funded through private donations from the community and receives no government funding except for in-kind rent from the County of Sacramento. To make a donation: www.womens-empowerment.org. 

Save Mart CARES is a 501c3 charitable organization focused on supporting community, arts, recreation, education and sports. The foundation was created by Save Mart Supermarkets and operates with a separate board of directors maintaining a separate focus on supporting the company’s principle of giving back to the communities it serves. For more information, visit www.savemart.com/community/cares-foundation