TUPELO, Miss. (BP)–How does Christian Women’s Job Corps equip a woman for life and work? The Tupelo, Miss., CWJC site provides a good example of the way sites operate across the country.
First, a woman in Tupelo, Miss., can learn about CWJC in most local women’s shelters and related agencies. It is up to the woman’s initiative to explore the opportunities offered through CWJC.
As a new client, the woman begins an eight-week program, meeting with other clients in a class environment from 8 a.m. until noon Monday through Thursday. The planned curriculum includes health and nutrition, career development, money management, parenting, personal discovery and communication skills.
In addition, she also participates in group and individual Bible study. Although some topics, such as money management or nutrition, seem secular, every teacher at CWJC is a Christian and each incorporates Scripture in his or her teaching of these topics.
Typically, a client needs help finding a job and perhaps building the skills needed to be a competent employee. The Tupelo site staff helps clients with this through their career development course. They teach the client how to fill out a job application and they put her through mock interviews. The woman also learns many things to not only find a job but be a valuable employee in order to retain that job.
If the client has children, CWJC volunteers will help her make application for childcare through the women’s shelter or the Salvation Army summer program, only two of the many organizations which support the work of CWJC in Tupelo. She can also enroll in parenting classes through CWJC which help her become a more effective parent. Local churches in Tupelo have given the site much assistance, including a copy machine, Bibles and Bible-study materials.
Site coordinator Julie Busby is passionate about their ministry to women because she continually sees lives being changed. Clients “quickly become a family and feel loved by our staff and each other. They believe in themselves again!” Busby says.
“God really means business with this ministry,” she adds. “We’re changing women’s lives and consequently the lives of many people around them, all through his power and grace.”
