Research tells us that women donors want to where their money  is going and be involved in the process.The Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Committee (WSSC) was developed to address these wishes.

Women's Self-Sufficiency Committee Goals

• Increasing awareness of the issue in our community through education and collaboration
• Creating program and community outcome measurements so that we’ll know what progress we're making 
• Linking to new partners and utilizing these resources to increase community impact

A survey of non-profit agencies was completed in the summer of 2007 to further understand the barriers of self-sufficiency in the central New Mexico region and to identify the best use of resources and volunteer opportunities through United Way of Central New Mexico. 

Top barriers to Self-Sufficiency

Survey results showed these barriers, related to the root causes of poverty could be broken down by:
           •  Improving high school graduation and GED rates
           •  Providing quality of before-school and after-school programs
           •  Improving client employability
           •  Proving life and social skills training
           •  Providing transitional and permanent housing

Using the survey results, the WSSC developed an action plan to create lasting change for women and community impact:

   1.  Equip non-profit agencies and service providers with resources to improve or
        increase services related to addressing top barriers to self-sufficiency.
   2.  Engage women at the Leadership giving level with non-profit agencies and
        service providers that prepare women for employment.
   3.  Cloe the front door to women in poverty by enhancing women's employability.
   4.  Raise awareness of Women in Philanthropy's support for women's self-sufficiency.

Commited to creating sustainable change for women and community impact, in 2008 the committee is focusing primarily on client employability. The 2008 Women's Self-Sufficiency grant cycle was just completed. Funding recipients for 2008 include:

          •  ACCION New Mexico - $10,000 to provide ongoing group loans to women
             and support them through economic self-sufficiency

          •  Albuquerque Family Advocacy Center - $25,200 to assist this one stop
             shop for victims of violence in meeting the needs of 300 - 400 victims seen each
             month by establishing a Volunteer Advocate Program

          • Citizens Schools New Mexico - $10,000 to support the delivery of
             afterschool programming that pairs middle school students with volunteer
             experts (citizen teachers).

          •  Rio Grande Education Collaborative - $8,800 to provide quality after-school
             care with a focus on literacy for 400 elementary and middle school children
             in the rio Grande school cluster

          •  Southwest Creations Collaborative - $20,000 to fund Nuevos Caminos (New
             Paths) program which assists employees with GED completion.

2008 Recent survey results (PDF)
2008-2009 Action plan (PDF)

    Interested in learning how you can become involved? Contact Christina Woodlee at
   247-3671 or by email.

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