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Pre-employment Program Gives Triad Women a Boost of Confidence

Women's Resource Center Greensboro website

A program that runs February 5-28 at the Women's Resource Center in Greensboro is helping displaced homemakers improve their job prospects.

Since 1996, the Women's Resource Center in Greensboro has helped more than 2,000 women in the Triad see themselves in a new light.  Lucy Wellmaker is director of “New Choices,” a pre-employment program that helps displaced homemakers re-enter the workforce.

"A displaced homemaker is someone who has been at home and dependent on the income of someone else in the household and now that income has changed due to separation, divorce, maybe he has been laid off or has had a decrease in pay. As long as they in that situation, they would qualify for the program."  Says Wellmaker.

Wellmaker says the free program attracts a wide range of women from various socio-economic backgrounds, education levels and ages. Twenty-six women began the bi-weekly program Tuesday in Greensboro. Wellmaker says they will learn a variety of skills to help them become self-sufficient.

"It's a 40 hour program that covers topics such as resume building, interviewing skills, and networking. We also include sessions on budgeting and self-esteem,” says Wellmaker.

Wellmaker says “We help women understand their transferable skills through their homemaking skills, through their volunteer positions and through their efforts in the community and help them understand how they can transfer those skills into the workforce."

The Women's Resource Center in Greensboro also monitors participant's progress for several months after the program ends. The next session of the “New Choices” program begins April 9. Registration will take place in March.

To register or for more information contact:

Lucy Wellmaker, New Choices Program Director

(336) 275-6090 ext. 223

Lucy@womenscentergso.org

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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