What We Do

Work Options for Women was started in 1997 as a realistic way for women to gain job skills and find employment to support their families. There is a largely invisible population in the US: women with minimal education, poor life skills, inadequate job training, and for whom the prospect of a living wage job is but a dream. Effective solutions are needed to help poor single mothers with complicated lives.

Fortunately WOW has a solid solution! Our goal is to help every woman that walks through our doors escape poverty and move towards self-sufficiency through employment in the food service industry.

Students' profile before WOW:

• 100% are living at or below poverty and do not have a full-time job
• In 2009, 46% were homeless when applying to WOW
• In 2009, 70% had no high school diploma or GED

Students' profile after WOW:

• WOW graduates are hired at $8.00 to $13.00 per hour and they begin to move out of poverty
• By the time students finish their training, most have moved into stable housing
• WOW graduates develop marketable job-skills during training, making it possible to enter the workforce to support their children