Workforce Development - Empowerment Program

Over the past 40 years, TLC has empowered thousands of women to leave their abusers, however, many returned unable to create independent lives for themselves and their families due to economic instability.  To truly break the cycle of abuse, TLC recognized temporary safe shelter and crisis services were not enough and added an in-house economic empowerment program to meet the unmet economic needs of survivors. One in three women are abused by intimate partners in the US. In Virginia, fatal family and intimate partner violence account for over one-third of homicides. We believe both of these statistics can be mitigated in our geographic area by enabling women to become financially independent.  

Instead of lining-up rapid placements in low-wage, low-skill jobs that tend to have low retention rates and minimal opportunity for advancement, the program focuses on career-readiness vs job-readiness.  We train individuals to enter career-track employment. Individuals are more invested when given opportunity and support, something most individuals do not receive in traditional workforce programs.  Meaningful, focused training opportunities allow individuals to escape the trap of cycling between low-wage work and public assistance.  Individuals realize career traction, wage progression, and job retention are achievable when they engage with the program.

The program is designed to achieve job placements with living-wage income, benefits, and potential for advancement. The focus is to provide participants with portable skills (through occupational and on-the-job training, job placement, etc.) that will not only help them to obtain employment but allow them to be competitive and increase retention levels. Through a trauma informed lens, the program provides the planning, professional resources, and the coordination needed to address the unique job training needs of domestic and sexual violence survivors. Participants work with staff to develop manageable goals and the steps needed that will allow them to enter career-track employment.  Staff provide ongoing case management and intensive workshops designed to remove barriers that often hinder their ability to successfully interview and perform on the job. A unique aspect of The Empowerment Program is the Railway Café which provides healthy food options to the constellation of health and human service organizations that are located around TLC. The café will provide eight weeks of paid on-the-job training with a focus on soft-skill development and ultimately moving into community employment. Community employer sites will also be used for paid on-the-job training with the desired outcome of the participant remaining in that employment.

The Empowerment Program provides services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence of varying ages, education, literacy, and skill levels. They frequently cycle in and out of public assistance, rely heavily on community resources for support and often return to their abusive partner. Most have experienced chronic unemployment, are lower-income, and have limited educational opportunities creating a skills gap, all exacerbated by abuse. Program participants are referred internally with cross-programmatic referrals from other Laurel Center services and the counties of Clarke, Frederick, and Winchester City. Our client demographic is comprised of 40% Caucasian, 30% African American, 20% Latino and 10% Bi-racial.

Staff work closely with participants through assessment and their personal interests to determine a career path that best fits the individual’s capabilities. Staff assist participants with realistic (SMART) goals that will continue to build self-confidence and belief in the possibility of a career outside of quick-placement into low-skill jobs. 

The primary program objective is to provide job training and connect survivors to opportunities allowing them to achieve long-term financial stability and provide the means to leave an abusive partner.

The Empowerment Program is under the leadership of two dynamic women, the Executive Director (Team Lead) and The Empowerment Program Coordinator who have significant experience working in the health and human services field.  These leaders bring a unique blend of professional expertise and compassionate understanding as women to the oversight of the program, ensuring the program addresses not only the economic needs of participants but also their emotional resilience and self-worth.  

A crucial element of the program’s success is the active involvement of TLC’s board of directors, which is composed of community leaders, many of whom are survivors of domestic violence.  This lived experience fosters a deep sense of empathy and ensures that the program remains firmly rooted in the realities faced by those it serves.  These board members leverage their personal journeys and professional networks to advocate for innovative solutions, enhance funding opportunities, and expand employment pathways for program participants. 

Guided by a commitment of inclusivity and empowerment, the design and implementation of the workforce development program are shaped by ongoing community input.  TLC prioritizes collaboration with local organizations and survivors to identify gaps, generate ideas and align the program with community needs and agendas. Regular workshops, ongoing community educational presentations, and partnerships with local law enforcement, colleges, healthcare agencies, churches and other civic and non-profit organizations create a dynamic exchange of ideas, ensuring the program evolves alongside the challenges faced by the community.    

By centering the voices of survivors and fostering strong community partnerships, The Empowerment Program is creating lasting change.  It equips participants with the tools to achieve economic independence and strengthens the entire community’s capacity to support those affected by domestic violence.  Together, this shared leadership approach is breaking cycles of abuse and building brighter futures for both survivors and our broader community.  

The Laurel Center’s Empowerment Program has grown steadily despite the fact the program began in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. The following intensive workshops and services are currently offered:  

• Self-esteem workshops to rebuild self-confidence eroded by years of abuse.
• Intensive career readiness including attainment of soft skills needed for workplace success (i.e. communication, teamwork, problem-solving, self-management/professionalism)
• Developing a career path
• Writing effective cover letters and resumes
• Interview coaching and training
• Professional development - Microsoft office, business communication, interpersonal and customer service
• Job retention
• GED attainment
• Short-term training leading to an industry credential
• Job placement
• On-the job training
• Supportive services-intensive case management, daycare and transportation assistance 

In FY23, referrals to the program totaled 31 with 28 actively enrolling and participating with an average hourly wage of $17.00 per hour.  To date FY24, there are 39 referrals with 30 actively enrolled and participating with an average hourly wage increasing to $19.97/hour. Additionally, 3 individuals have retained employment for 1 year or greater. This stable, career focused employment has allowed these individuals to obtain their own housing, rebuild their confidence, and most importantly live independently from their abuser.

The Laurel Center Empowerment Program

Economic empowerment programs for domestic and sexual violence survivors are relatively new to the advocacy community. The Laurel Center added its economic empowerment program to their continuum of care in 2020 and is the only shelter program in the State of Virginia to offer an in-house economic empowerment program.  The limited but growing research on the prevalence of financial abuse and its impact suggests that it is critical for advocacy programs to incorporate these programs as a part of their core services. Due to abuse, many of our participants have not been allowed to work, have poor work histories and exhibit other significant barriers to employment, showing the need for a program that helps to ensure job training and placement, with expert knowledge in providing support to domestic and sexual violence survivors.

Domestic violence survivors need counseling, help establishing safety plans, legal advice, and other specialized support that traditional job training programs do not provide because they lack the expertise to provide survivors with supportive services that address their unique needs. This opens the door for TLC to serve as a pilot for other domestic and sexual assault programs.   

TLC offers participants comprehensive workforce development services that include intensive career readiness, life and job skills training, job placement assistance and supportive services (daycare and transportation assistance).  One of the unique cornerstones of our economic empowerment program is the Railway Café.  An old freight station adjacent to our emergency shelter was renovated into a community café by TLC in September 2023.  While gaining extensive knowledge through intensive workshops, participants have an opportunity to utilize these skills hands-on through 8 weeks of paid on-the-job training at the Café. Participants enhance transferable skills that can be utilized in any career path they choose. 

The Empowerment Program’s goal is to provide victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence with an opportunity for long-term economic independence.  The focus is to provide the training needed to obtain a marketable skill to enter career track employment that offers a living wage income, benefits, and potential for advancement while allowing them to be competitive and increase retention levels.  To ensure these goals are met, The Empowerment Program monitors and captures information monthly/quarterly on a developed spreadsheet and makes any necessary adjustments to programming. By analyzing these metrics, The Laurel Center can demonstrate the transformative nature of The Empowerment Program.

The following metrics are tracked on a monthly and quarterly basis: 

• Number of clients referred
• Number of clients enrolled
• Number of clients entered training/completed training/credential received
• Number of clients entered full or part-time employment
• Average hourly wage
• Number of clients employed at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year
• Number of clients receiving daycare or transportation assistance

In FY24, 30 participants were enrolled in the Empowerment Program with 4 receiving certifications,10 entering full time employment and 2 entering part-time employment. This program has been extremely life transforming for those individuals becoming employed. When beginning this program, many participants had little to no skills and were stuck in low-paying menial jobs. After the completion of this program, the lives of those achieving employment have been greatly improved with marketable skills, stable employment, a livable wage, and self-empowerment allowing participants to live without the fear of violence.  Even for those individuals that did not see the program through, they gained a level of self-confidence, developed skills for resiliency and a knowledge base that will prove useful in the future.

Currently, the Empowerment Program employs one full time Program Coordinator and one full time Job Coach. The Program Coordinator oversees all aspects of the Empowerment Program including contacting potential employers, developing training modules, evaluating participants for skill levels, developing participant employment tracks, monitoring and evaluating participants, providing feedback to participants and employers, and analyzing program results. The Job Coach duties include working directly with participants, ensuring participants learn needed job skills, evaluate participants, provide feedback to participants, and assist in ensuring program goals are met.

4 years 

For 40 years, The Laurel Center has provided intervention and safety services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. While intervention and safety services are necessary and paramount in supporting survivors, it is not sufficient in breaking the cycle of violence.  Recognizing the role that economic control has in preventing victims from leaving their abusers, in 2020 The Center introduced an Economic Empowerment Program moving survivors from safety to long-term security. Part of the program is a community café.  The Railway Café renovation project began October 2021 and completed in September 2023.  The café will open February 2025.

The Laurel Center is deeply committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within its leadership and organizational culture. This commitment is evident in the intentional makeup of our leadership team – leadership staff and board members – which reflects a balance of men and women, includes individuals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and draws on a wide array of professional experiences. This diverse composition ensures that decision-making is informed by varied perspectives, creating a more inclusive environment that resonates with the needs of the communities we serve.

To further institutionalize DEI values, The Laurel Center has designated a DEI Director, who also serves as our Training and Development Coordinator. This role is pivotal in embedding DEI principles across all levels of the organization. The DEI Director leads efforts to cultivate a culture of respect, awareness, and continuous learning by facilitating training sessions, workshops, and development programs for staff and leadership alike. These initiatives are designed to challenge biases, enhance cultural competency, and promote equity in all facets of our operations.

Moreover, DEI is not merely a guiding principle, but an organizational expectation explicitly outlined in our personnel and operations manuals. This ensures accountability and sets a clear standard for staff behavior, hiring practices, and community engagement. Integrating DEI into our policies and daily practices, The Laurel Center fosters an inclusive workplace that values diversity and ensures equitable opportunities for all.

This conscientious focus on diversity within our leadership and organizational framework strengthens our mission, enabling us to address the unique challenges of domestic violence survivors with empathy, understanding, and cultural relevance. Our commitment to DEI is foundational to creating systemic change, empowering individuals, and building a more inclusive community.

The Laurel Center's vision is to work with our community to stop the cycle of domestic and sexual violence. Suffering from lives disrupted by the cycle of abuse, survivors often lack the support of family and/or friends to help them escape from their abuser.  The Laurel Center provides survivors with crisis intervention, safety and support services to include a 24-hotline, 24-hour emergency shelter, licensed therapy, support groups, psychoeducational counseling, advocacy, court accompaniment, children's services and the workforce development program.  

The Laurel Center, through years of experience, realizes that many victims return to their abusers because of a lack of financial independence. This experience led TLC to establish their Empowerment Program to assist victims in taking back control of their destinies. Many victims lack job skills needed for career path occupations and suffer from low self-esteem. This lack of job and social skills limits victims' abilities to find and retain stable employment beyond minimum wage jobs. Without work, many domestic violence survivors will seek support from local government and human and social service programs (i.e., Department of Social Services), requiring more extensive and expensive interventions and imposing greater direct and indirect costs to taxpayers. The Laurel Center’s workforce development program is designed to get abuse survivors back into the workforce quickly, so they do not become a burden on state or local government and on health and human service providers who are already overwhelmed. Through the assistance of TLC's Empowerment Program, survivors are provided an opportunity to rebuild their lives and enhance their financial independence.

The Laurel Center’s Empowerment Program has been in existence for over 4 years and has successfully assisted numerous survivors of domestic and sexual violence.  Many survivors have broken the restrictive bonds of their abusers and become financially independent and violence free.  

Our Empowerment Program receives grant funding for salaries and operating expenses, but funding is limited in regard to on-the-job training stipends and workforce certifications for clients.  Without additional funding, The Empowerment Program will still provide clients with community job placements but will have limited resources available for on-the-job training stipends and workforce certifications. 

An alternative source of funding for job training stipends and workforce certification expenses is available through The Railway Café sales revenue. The Railway Cafe is a vital component of the Empowerment Program providing on-the-job training to program clients. The Railway Cafe is partially supported by grant funding and has widespread community support. Therefore, cafe revenues are estimated to be sufficient to support cafe operational expenses. Included in the cafe's budgeted expenses are funds for Empowerment Program client stipends used for paying clients enrolled in on-the-job training.  While Truist grant funding will cover this cost for the cafe's first year of operation, cafe revenues will be sufficient to pay client stipends in subsequent years. 

Through a combination of sustainable grant funding and café revenue sales, sufficient funding will sustain The Empowerment Program’s on-the-job training stipends and workforce certifications into the future.

A grant from the Truist Foundation and MIT Solve would be pivotal in amplifying The Laurel Center’s Empowerment Program, positioning it as a statewide model for addressing the needs of domestic violence survivors through economic empowerment. These strategic partnerships would bring both financial resources and innovation expertise, enabling the program to scale its impact across Virginia.

Truist Foundation's commitment to financial empowerment aligns seamlessly with the program’s focus on breaking the cycle of abuse through economic independence. The grant would provide the means to expand critical components, such as on-the-job training stipends, which alleviate financial stress and allow survivors to focus on building essential skills for long-term success.

MIT Solve’s expertise in innovation and problem-solving adds unique value, enabling the program to refine its model with cutting-edge strategies and scalable solutions. By leveraging MIT Solve’s network and mentorship opportunities, The Laurel Center can enhance program design, streamline operations, and evaluate outcomes effectively, ensuring replicability across Virginia.

This dual support empowers the Empowerment Program to address systemic barriers faced by survivors while fostering sustainable partnerships with local businesses and community organizations. As a result, the program will not only uplift individual participants but also serve as a blueprint for other organizations addressing domestic violence statewide. Together, Truist Foundation and MIT Solve enable The Laurel Center to advance its mission, creating a ripple effect of empowerment and resilience for survivors across Virginia.