Group Seeks To Help Women Overcome Barriers To Employment
If you (or a woman you know) are job-seeking but lack transportation and can't afford to buy a car until you actually have a job, Women With Drive, a non-profit organization in Muscatine could help. Women With Drive has a simple mission: to help women get around a common obstacle to gainful employment – no car. You can donate a car, make a contribution, or apply for help at their website womenwithdrive.org where you will also find links to resources, facts about women in poverty, and an upbeat, quirky blog with posts like these:
How to fly without wings
How do you define sacrifice?
Are you exposed by your fears?
On the WWD website you will find the director/founder's inspiring personal story, photos of tires, oil changes, women with candles, quotations by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Martin Luther King, Jr., and links to research on transportation, employment, poverty, etc.
Did you know:
– Women comprise the bulk of those in poverty: 56% of Americans over 18 who live in poverty are women.
– The most significant barrier to employment for employees was transportation.
– Three in every five jobs suitable for welfare-to-work participants are not accessible by public transportation.
– Most metropolitan areas typically do not offer adequate public transportation services during second and third shift hours.
Here's more about their mission from the website:
Women With Drive Foundation (WWDF) provides a car to women in transition in exchange for their participation in an assessment that identifies her particular barriers to independence. Once identified, a two-year plan is established by our participants in conjunction with a WWDF program officer that is designed to build her skill sets so that she may become fully independent.
By removing the pressure of owning and maintaining a vehicle, WWDF participants have the energy to focus on elevating and empowering themselves – helping them to help themselves transition from poverty.
The Women With Drive Foundation fund is a component fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit charitable organization, donations to which are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to the Community Foundation and include in the memo “WWDF”. Send to: Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine, 208 W. 2nd St, Ste. 213, Muscatine, IA 52761.
You can also find WWD on Facebook.
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