c. 1998 Religion News Service

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ Adele Williams, a 20-year-old single mother with three young children, could only find work at fast-food restaurants. With few health benefits, little child support, and not enough in her paychecks to support her family, she knew she needed to do something to drastically change her life. Enter the Christian Women’s Job Corps, a national program founded in 1994 by members of the Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union who wanted to assist women in breaking out of the poverty cycle.

“It had been my goal to be able to find a job that would pay enough to provide for my family, but that’s just not possible working at a fast-food restaurant,” said Williams. “I was very excited to hear about the program, especially since it is a Christian program. So far, it’s been a real blessing. There are some wonderful people out there willing to give up their time to help someone.”

Williams is one of six clients selected to participate in Huntsville’s new CWJC program. The local program’s first class, which involves eight weeks of job training, is open to any woman, regardless of economic, religious or ethnic background, who desires to move from dependency to self-sufficiency.”It’s a program for women in need,”said Mary Reeder, who serves as the mentor liaison for the clients.”Most people’s idea of helping someone is to fix them. But we’re not trying to do that. We’re not imposing our ideas on them, but to help them find their dream and follow it.” Reeder said the Baptist women were concerned about the effect welfare reform would have on single women, especially those with little or no job skills.

In January 1996, the WMU launched four pilot programs around the country to determine if the idea was feasible. Nine months later, representatives of the pilot programs heartily endorsed the program as a success, and now hundreds of volunteers are working to quickly start programs in as many cities as possible.

Each program is designed for the needs of a specific locale, but all must have at least two common threads _ Christian women mentors and Bible study. The mentors receive 16 hours of training before being paired with a client and each must be willing to commit to at least a year of working with the client, helping out in a number of areas, or simply offering encouragement to the woman.

After their training is completed, the clients are sent on prearranged job interviews through local businesses which have agreed to provide jobs for those who qualify.

“When I heard about it, I just fell in love with the idea,” said Darlene Berry, the Huntsville project site coordinator. Berry worked at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce for seven years and had numerous contacts with city and civic leaders. She and her husband had both given up their jobs to go into full-time evangelistic work, so she agreed to take the position with CWJC and began using her civic and business contacts to find volunteers for the program.

“I prayed about it and told them I would do it at no charge, but they do pay me a stipend for my work,”said Berry. “Just meeting the ladies and seeing the potential they have to break the poverty cycle of dependency and be self-sufficient has been a tremendous blessing to us all.”

Berry said many of the clients have simply fallen into hard times because of circumstances beyond their control. Some, she said, have college or even post-graduate degrees.

“We are willing to work with any woman in need, and they are not necessarily all poverty-stricken,” she said.

Donna Goodrich, chairwoman of the Huntsville CWJC Board of Directors and the facility administrator at Alabama Industrial Development Training, first heard about the program through the state Department of Human Resources. She thought it was a good idea, but didn’t sign on until the last minute. “I waited until the last day to sign up,” she said. “I thought about it all day long. I had been seeking a mission and I believe it is what God gave me to do. It was just a matter of obeying.”

Goodrich said the program is not only designed to help train women with specific skills, but to build clients’ self-esteem so they are able to “interact with other people, to think for themselves, and to handle a job interview in a professional manner.”

Goodrich is a member of Chelsea Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America. And though the program originated in the Southern Baptist denomination, she believes it will help tear down some walls in the Christian community. “Everyone feels there is a need to stop our separatist attitude,” she said. “The church is supposed to be about missions and developing a Christ-like attitude toward people. I see the biggest thing from this program is a coming together with other churches to see a need, and to reach out in the community together to meet those needs.”

The program’s curriculum, which was designed by retired Huntsville city school educator Joan Dowdle, includes a variety of areas such as computers, school and education, nutrition, money management, family and child care, communication, personal discovery and culture.

The courses are taught once a week, with the exception of Bible study and computers, which are taught daily.

Clients must have their GED before being placed in a job. Those who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent will be assisted in getting it by the time CWJC graduation is held on Nov. 8.

Reeder said other sites throughout the county will be formed within the next year. Each site needs about 60 volunteers, including people to make and serve lunch each day, give short devotions, or provide transportation. Teachers and teachers’ aides are also needed.

According to Berry, it is”truly a hands-on program, and not just talk. It provides a hand up, and not a hand out. Rather than doing it for them, we show them how to do it for themselves.”

DEA END WHITE