Alabama WMU sponsored a national Christian Women’s Job Corps (CWJC) site coordinators certification training event Feb. 22-24. Twelve women from around the country came to the Alabama Baptist State Convention building to learn how to begin a successful CWJC site.
Elizabeth Ford, executive director of the York County CWJC site in Rock Hill, S.C., led the training with Shelia Black, Alabama’s CWJC coordinator. CWJC is a nonprofit, community-based organization that enriches the lives of poverty-stricken women.
Through Bible study, job readiness clauses and one-on-one mentoring, the program helps women gain the skills and confidence to reach the goal of self-sufficiency.
Alabama has seven CWJC sites from Mobile to Huntsville. The state also has four other sites in progress.
One success story is that of Judy Thurman. After graduating from Birmingham’s CWJC job readiness program, Thurman landed a job with the Humane Society of Greater Birmingham, bought a house, purchased a car but more importantly, Thurman regained custody of her two children.
Before entering the CWJC program, Thurman was a drug-addicted homeless alcoholic.
Other success stories flood Alabama with women gaining self-sufficiency through welfare-to-work programs.
For instance, 29 graduates of the Huntsville CWJC site have full-time jobs in the community, three graduates are now students at Calhoun Community College, two graduates have started their own businesses and one has entered a graduate program in business administration.
Similar success stories are found as women tell how God has worked through their area CWJC sites and mentors to lead them to a relationship with Christ and self-sufficiency. (Alabama WMU)
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