Community Renewal Team (CRT) is a non-profit community action agency dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty. CRT has a proven record of helping women. Last year 59% of CRT’s 86,067 clients were women and 31% of the families served were headed by single mothers. Their mission is to help even more women by developing the Women’s Empowerment Center that will mentor women for personal, career and economic success. CRT’s experience in working with families has prompted them to open a Women’s Empowerment Center to enable women to help them establish economic stability and be successful in their careers in order to provide for themselves and their children.
In December of 2017 CRT hosted a focus group with women from Hartford to better understand how the Women’s Empowerment Center can serve low-income women. These women shared insights in to the barriers they are experiencing to providing for their needs as well as the needs of their families.
Based on this they have developed a three-pronged approach to their vision:
- A hotline for the Women’s Empowerment Center will serve as a safe and open place for women from Hartford and Middlesex counties to access services that CRT provides.
- In the coming year CRT’s Women’s Empowerment Center hopes to take applications from women across the Greater Hartford region to be in a pilot class of 10 to 20 women. These women will receive case management services from CRT and each will be paired with a mentor who will provide one-on-one guidance and support as well as participate in the classes and trainings. The goal of the mentorship is to help women establish meaningful, long lasting relationships with other women who can provide resources and support along their journey. The focus is on supporting financial literacy, career and workforce readiness, as well as to teach women to use the power of their voices to share their stories in order to advocate for changes in policies and programs to better serve their needs and intended purposes.
- CRT’s Women’s Empowerment Center will provide workshops throughout the Hartford and Middlesex Counties that will be open to the public on topics that are relevant to personal and career development and financial literacy. These workshops will be networking opportunities open to all women because they are an essential part to bridging the gaps across economic barriers.
The ultimate goal is to see the women who participate in the Women’s Empowerment Center to thrive, and hopefully serve as mentors for other women in the future. You can support this great initiative by attending their upcoming event on Wednesday, May 2nd at 5:30 at the Gershon Fox Ballroom. For more information and tickets, please visit: http://www.crtct.org/en/events/crt-womens-empowerment-center-fundraiser