Initiatives
Women’s Empowerment Initiative (WEI)
Champion Your Vision
Women’s Empowerment as a Catalyst for Community Engagement and Transformation:
The Elmwood/Harambee Women’s Empowerment Initiative (Initiative) is part of a multidimensional ministry initiative created by the Elmwood United Presbyterian Church.
Through this Initiative, women are challenged to champion their own success and to realize self-sufficiency, and thus to become role models for children, other women in their community, and other persons whose livelihood is currently stymied by systemic forces. Fiscal literacy is a primary underpinning of the Initiative.
- The Women’s Empowerment Initiative represents just one of the many innovative opportunities to take our witness – our charge to go therefore into the world – outside the walls of the church and into our communities.
- The Initiative allows us to partner with women -- within and outside the Elmwood congregations -- to explore, define, and realize their own visions for success and achieve self-sufficiency.
- The Initiative will establish a women-operated alternative staffing agency that offers access to living wages and benefits. It will also create a mortgage banking partnership, credit union, and a path to homeownership through fiscal literacy training and homeownership counseling.
The Initiative has as its focus congregational, organizational, and community transformation; women’s empowerment; and, public policy advocacy. While addressing several factors of family well-being, the Initiative will focus on creating a safe space for spiritual, economic, and educational transition. The foundational premise of the Women’s Empowerment Initiative is that:
- When we empower single head-of-household women, we strengthen the family.
- When we strengthen the family, we facilitate and improve opportunities for their children. Thereby;
- Empowering women, strengthening the family and improving opportunities for children of the community.
Offerings of the Women’s Empowerment Initiative are portable. Administrative offices are located at the Harambee Center in East Orange (60 Glenwood Avenue, 07017) with plans for a second site at 377 Clinton Avenue in Newark. But, individual services can be offered wherever the need exists and where there are ample numbers of women to warrant the offering the location. Prayerfully ponder how you, your congregation or community organization might partner share in the far-reaching impact of this Initiative.
Make sure to leave us an email with your comments and suggestions, info@focusedaction.org.
WEI Board of Directors
Desiree Barber, President
Wendy Burkins, 1st Vice President
Juanita Lester, 2nd Vice President
Karen Jackson, Secretary
Debbra Smith, Financial/Membership Secretary
Reginald Oliver, Treasurer
Toye Kirkland, At-Large
Curtis A. Jones, Ex-Officio
Anna Banks
Anna King
Louise Reeves
Carol Guy
Pat Johnson
Andrea Davis
Sharon Brown
William Brown
Valerie Best
Eleanor Doty – Staff Support
Bridgette Sancho – Facilitator