Women’s Resource Center in Grand Rapids, MI educates and empowers women with tools and strategies for finding employment, developing a career, and becoming economically independent.

Women’s Resource Center is a member of EMPath’s global learning network, a community of over 140 organizations. Through this network, called the Economic Mobility Exchange™, EMPath offers resources, support, and trainings and shares our research-backed method for helping people in poverty climb the economic ladder — Mobility Mentoring®. Exchange members share back their lessons learned and what it takes to adapt best practices locally.

In their program New Beginnings, Women’s Resource Center uses a Mobility Mentoring-informed approach to help women housed at the Kent County Jail get back on their feet after being released back into the community. The coaching model provides structure for the organization’s pre- and post-release program design as they provide wraparound coaching and support to empower participants towards success.

In New Beginnings, staff career coaches and trained volunteer mentors assist participants in making a successful reentry into their communities. Before they’re released, women are paired with a mentor to proactively set goals in areas of their life outside of prison, like housing and education. Mentors also offer a listening ear and a regular contact once the women re-enter the community and begin working on their goals. In this way, women begin the program while still incarcerated so that they have an existing support system when they’re released.

New Beginnings volunteer mentors attend 12 hours of training that covers trust-building, pathways into crime, restorative strategies, and more.

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Many organizations like Women’s Resource Center look to EMPath’s coaching model to empower others to find their strength, foster a positive sense of self, and work towards their dreams of economic mobility. Contact our team to learn more about our network and find out how your organization can join.

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