“I know we’re supposed to think big and mainstream. On the occasions I’ve tried to do that, I’ve realized I’m just about one-on-one; one person, one life, one relationship at a time to make it a better world.”

— Mollie Lowery

Enrichment Services

 

Empowerment Works

Empowerment Works develops and implements opportunities which help participants re-imagine a nurturing society where a person can take safe risks, fulfill lost dreams, and participate as an enfranchised member of society. 

Empowerment Works gives opportunities that include:  

  • competitive and supportive employment, including job opportunities through Housing Works' HEAL (Healthcare Employment Advancement Ladder) program 

  • volunteer work 

  • educational enrichment, including experiences and participation in art, theater, music, and nature 

Peer Specialist Team

The Peer Specialist Team is a part of our Enrichment Services Program in efforts to assist participants in guiding and supporting them through regaining confidence, skillsets, and employment. 

Our Peer Specialist Team members have all previously experienced homelessness in their lives; therefore, they understand our participants’ experiences and are able to connect with them on a deeper level.  

Our team members have also been through our Empowerment Works’ HEAL program, where they were trained to enter the workforce. Jayden Alexander, one of our Peer Specialist Team members, has this to say about HEAL: "HEAL was a stepping stone, and I was able to help people because I experienced it. I'm not what people say I am. If I put my mind to something, I can do it."  

In 2015, Empowerment Works was created with the goal of creating a robust and innovative workforce model which would support participants with job training, placement, and ultimately job retention services. By 2018, our Empowerment Works team was recognized for its unique and individualized approach to employment of people with lived expertise which resulted in the team taking on a challenge to grow the HEAL program (Healthcare Employment Advancement Ladder). Since 2018, Housing Works has served 52 students via two HEAL training cohorts. 31 of them have completed the course, earning a certificate of completion as Certified Peer Specialists. We continue to support a total of 18 participants with employment and workforce development services. 

Supportive housing is about creating environments with tangible opportunities that help tenants believe in the goodness of humanity. From this belief, tenants will find hope and a future for themselves. Supportive housing has the potential of fostering hope for its tenants if the social environments engendered within have opportunities that reflect the reciprocal nature of “having value” for the person and the greater community. Empowerment Works fills the gaps that people may be experiencing as they navigate integrating into society.