
In case you haven’t heard, A Home For Everyone in DeKalb is partnering with Georgia Works and the Oakhurst Center For the Community to launch The Women’s Workforce Program. To learn more about what that means, we spoke with Darlene Schultz, President and CEO of Georgia Works.
How did you hear about the Women's workforce program and what are you most excited about when it comes to this program?
I was on a United Way Zoom call when I heard Shelly Fine and Annie Godfrey talk about their idea for a women’s dormitory program. But then shortly after, Cherie Ong got us connected and joined us for a first in-person meeting that Shelly, Annie and Rob Johnson had at my office at Gateway Center. Cherie - a property developer - was very connected with Georgia Works. During that first meeting we agreed to explore the option to collaborate to start a Women's Workforce Transition project in DeKalb County At GW, we receive over 100 calls from women a month, wanting to get into our program so this is a win-win.
What is your vision for the Women’s Workforce Program and how is it different from other programs already out there?
We are going to start with 11 women and by the first year, we hope to have 20 graduates. I want to start with Oakhurst, [then] go to the City of Atlanta and replicate the program across the state. There are a huge amount of federal rules that we don't have to follow because we don’t accept federal funding. We can pick the candidates and say no if it's not a good fit, so we will have a high success rate. If it all goes well, we can start with our first residents in the summer.
Why should people donate money to this project?
We just had a cost saving analysis from Georgia Tech that showed the Georgia Works program saved taxpayers $40,000 because [participants] aren’t in jails, they aren’t in emergency rooms. We have graduated over 1,000 men over 11 years. I was in a meeting with Atlanta Gas Light and their ears perked up when I mentioned this woman's program. I got an email from them late last year and they committed $100,000 to the program, which is our first official grant.
Tell us more about Georgia Works.
Men walk in at 10 am at Gateway Center for intake. They can get a bed that night if they get accepted into the program. What’s unique about Georgia Works is that we don’t receive any federal funding. That’s because in order to receive federal funding, you have to adhere to the “housing first” model that HUD requires. We wanted to address [the men’s] issues first. They have to come into our program clean, sober and drug-free. GW leases 10 to 11 homes that are shared living spaces, so after going through our program, they have a guaranteed place to live. They can save money on rent and we can help them find their first apartment. Finally, we got a grant from the Governor's Office for $5 million and then raised $15 million to purchase and renovate the Odd Fellows building on Auburn Avenue, that will be finished in late June.
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