When Jane first came to Christian Women's Job Corp (CWJC), she was living with her daughter on $50 a week she made from baby-sitting. She also received $30 a week in child support, which ended when her daughter graduated three months later. Jane was previously laid off from her 11-year job at a mill and was unable to find other employment due to inadequate skills and a lack of transportation.
Two goals Jane made with her CWJC mentor were to receive job-skill training and help her daughter attend college. After attending Vocational Rehabilitation, Jane began managing a coin laundry within walking distance of her home. Her daughter was given a full grant to attend college. Currently, Jane is learning to drive and she is working on moving from government-subsidized housing to a place of her own.
Jane's ongoing success story is just one example of the many lives that have been changed by CWJC across our country. It is estimated that in 2002 approximately 1000 women, in situations similar to Jane's, will experience transformation through the ministry of Christian Women's Job Corp.

Many women who are poverty stricken do not have the self-esteem, life skills, education, child care, support system, or basic transportation necessary to break free of the cycle of poverty. They may be widowed, disabled, victims of domestic violence, and/or dealing with substance abuse. Current statistics show that 22% of all persons in our area live in a financial environment that is below the poverty level established by the US Department of Health and Human Services. And that the vast majority of low income households consist of women and children. Few organizations are able to address every aspect - physical, mental, emotional, financial, and spiritual - that threatens to overwhelm a woman in need.

The purpose of Christian Women's Job Corp is to provide a Christian context in which women in need are equipped for life and employment, to the point of complete *self-sufficiency; and a mission context in which women help women.

*Self-sufficiency, as defined by the National CWJC, is when a woman can provide safe and affordable housing for herself and her family, is not dependent on financial assistance or entitlements, has safe and reliable transportation with the ability to maintain that transportation, has safe and dependable child care when needed, has a healthy support network, has the necessary life-skills to maintain job and personal responsibilities, and has sustained employment with benefits for at least six months.

Partnering for a better tomorrow, Wichita-Archer-Clay Christian Women's Job Corp seeks to help poverty stricken women move from dependence to self-sufficiency through a ministry of women helping women.

Interfaith Ministries, Inc. and Wichita-Archer-Clay Baptist Association are partnering for the establishment and continuation of a Christian Women's Job Corps site based in Wichita Falls. The Wichita-Archer-Clay Christian Women's Job Corp (WAC CWJC) is being customized to meet needs of women in our particular area assisting them in breaking out of the poverty cycle. In all CWJC sites throughout the US, the key elements of a CWJC program are:
1. Advisory Council
2. Bible Study
3. Certification training
4. Covenant with every client and mentor
5. Evaluation
6. Mentor for every participant
7. Needs assessment of community and clients
8. Networking

CWJC programs are open to all women, at no charge, seeking the skills and encouragement needed to move from dependency to self-sufficiency.
The success of CWJC across our country, in its relatively brief 7-year history, includes countless participants graduating from the program, securing employment, and utilizing life skills for maintaining self-sufficiency. Many of the graduates are "paying it forward" by in turn giving of their time and energy as a mentor for another woman in need, which is a minimum 2 year commitment.

The aim of Christian Women's Job Corp is to utilize the gifts of women to help equip other women for the challenges of life and work. Specifically, CWJC endeavors to help women who are welfare-dependent to become self-sufficient working women. The approach is holistic addressing a woman's spiritual, mental, emotional, educational and social needs. By offering guidance in all of these areas, women are better able to maintain employment and thus become and remain self-sufficient.

Educational guidance comes in the form of life skills training classes, computer training, and financial management counseling. Networking with local institutions also aids participants in gaining the educational training they need. To address their emotional and social needs, participants are paired with a mentor for weekly meetings where individualized goals are set forth, and subsequently reviewed, through covenants. Spiritual needs are addressed through group Bible study led by mature Christian Bible study teachers.

Senior adults, single mothers, disabled women, victims of domestic violence, and women facing substance abuse are among the women served through CWJC. Since the establishment of the first site in 1996, 82 nationally registered sites (20 in Texas) in 20 states have emerged, the goal being to implement at least one site in every state.

The Advisory Council asks that you share the vision of Christian Women's Job Corp by praying fervently for and giving generously to Wichita-Archer-Clay Christian Women's Job Corp for development and operating expenses.

The purpose of Christian Women's Job Corp is to provide a Christian context in which women in need are equipped for life and employment, to the point of complete *self-sufficiency; and a mission context in which women help women.

Partnering for a better tomorrow, WAC CWJC seeks to help poverty stricken women move from dependence to self-sufficiency through a ministry of women helping women.

• Can provide safe and affordable housing for herself and her family
• Is not dependent on financial assistance or entitlements
• Has safe and reliable transportation with the ability to maintain that transportation
• Has safe and dependable child care when needed
• Has a healthy support network
• Has the necessary life-skills to maintain job and personal responsibilities
• Has sustained employment with benefits for at least six months.

• Training
• Mentoring
• Covenants
• Confidentiality
• Documentation
• Evaluations
• Understanding Poverty

• Mentor support - long-term one-on-one helping relationship - "Partnering for a better tomorrow"
• "Soft-skills" education, development, and experience
• Spiritual development interwoven with accessing social services on the journey to self-sufficiency

Barbara Harrison of Shiloh Baptist Church and Wichita-Archer-Clay Women's Missionary Union

• Certification training - completed
• Needs assessments - completed
• Advisory Council - established and working
• Networking - current and ongoing
• Mentors
• Covenants
• Bible Study
• Evaluation