At Women’s Empowerment Survivors Rebuild Finances from the Ground Up

By Kelsey Bardini, MSW 
Social Worker/“Money Matters Diva” at Women’s Empowerment 

When a woman decides to leave a violent relationship, she often has no place to turn and very few resources to draw upon. With the lack of affordable housing in California, many women are faced with the daunting choice between staying in a violent relationship or becoming homeless. At Women’s Empowerment, a Sacramento service agency for homeless women, 85% of our participants are survivors of domestic violence.

These courageous women have already made the tough choice to leave a violent environment, and are now going through the process of rebuilding their lives from the ground up. Women’s Empowerment’s core curriculum helps women do just that: rebuild. With classes that focus on a woman’s self-esteem, her identity, her values, and her life choices, we help women build dreams for themselves that they may not have had before. At Women’s Empowerment, women can envision a life where they are free from the abuse that has bound them in the past, and step out to meet life as the women who are buried deep within them, waiting to be set free.

  

Women’s Empowerment’s financial literacy program “Money Matters” not only assists women with the skills necessary to make healthy financial choices, but empowers women to become active participants in their own financial lives. For many survivors, the topic of money seems scary and overwhelming. In some cases, women have been victims of financial abuse; in other cases, they’re afraid to manage their own money for fear that they will do it improperly. And in most cases, women have not learned the practical skills and knowledge to successfully manage their day-to-day finances. Money Matters teaches women about their own personal relationship with money, and how to rebuild that relationship in the areas that need work. It also helps women to regain their confidence, and build on their skills as active financial planners in their own lives.

Women’s Empowerment’s core curriculum also equips women with the skills necessary to regain employment and create the life they have always wanted. Without an income, it is not uncommon for women to enter back into a violent relationship in order to secure housing for themselves and their children. At Women’s Empowerment, women are taught how to ace an interview, perfect a resume, and get a job so that they can secure the stable income they need to support themselves and their families as they begin building their dreams for the future.

Women at Women’s Empowerment often have little to no income. This can make teaching financial literacy challenging. We have found, however, that building up practical skills, as well as attitudes and behaviors surrounding money, empowers women to view money as a tool for creating positive change in their lives, not for bringing them down. Participants in Women’s Empowerment’s Money Matters class report seeing high growth in their attitudes about their financial futures, their budgeting and saving skills, and perhaps most importantly, their ability to make smart financial choices for themselves and their families.

Posted in: