Grantee Spotlight

Our partnership with Win allowed us to launch the pilot Francine A. LeFrak Computer Training Program. The program provides real world solutions for women to begin the process of rebuilding their lives. The 6-week computer training intensive is a skills-based class that provides training in Microsoft Office to women currently living in homeless shelters. Women are trained in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

They put the skills they learn to use by creating a final PowerPoint presentation, which they present to their peers in order to develop public speaking skills.

Graduates also create a resume and participate in job fairs with potential employers specifically seeking to employ individuals with the skills developed in this program. Each woman leaves the program with two job interviews.

Simply put: this is a hand-up, not a hand-out. One hundred of these women over the past year entered the pilot. The program has already seen tremendous success with 40% of program graduates finding work and 20% leaving the shelter for permanent housing.