Women's Bean Project

Social enterprise that employs chronically impoverished and unemployed women, helping them earn job readiness, interpersonal and life skills

When a woman thrives, we all gain.

For almost 25 years, Women’s Bean Project has been helping women break the cycle of poverty and unemployment.  Through the Bean Project’s carefully honed transitional employment program, participants receive immediate income and learn job readiness skills, while being mentored and encouraged in ways that increase their self-confidence, personal development and self-reliance. 

Benefits of our program.

Graduates of the program have the skills to obtain an entry-level career position, as well as the strength and resilience to overcome personal barriers and change, enabling them to stay employed and create a new future for themselves, their families, our community and our economy.

On the path to self-sufficiency.

In addition to the hands-on learning that occurs on the production floor, the women have their weekly “Women at the Bean” class with life coach Joyce Buteyn-Garrett. Many of the women at the Bean have dealt with unimaginable challenges, and the key to lasting success is giving the women myriad methods to break through their negative long-standing habits and thought patterns.  Joyce guides them to “become aware of their courage, embrace the best of who they are, envision their potential, step out of the familiar and wake up to their possibility.” Meeting with the women for two hours weekly, Joyce’s classes provide the framework for the women to overcome personal barriers and move forward in their lives.

Breaking Barriers to Employment and Preparing to Graduate.

Every element of the Bean Project curriculum contributes to eliminating barriers to employment, building fundamental job readiness skills and enhancing employability.  The first few months of the new year comprise the Individualized Job Placement phase, which is crucial to her transition into the community and long-term self-sufficiency.

From basic computer classes to create a foundation for online job searches, to individualized guidance on resume writing, to building confidence with her communication skills through mock interviews, the focus of this phase is to ensure she has the resources, training and skills she needs to secure a permanent, full-time career entry-level position prior to graduating at the Bean.

It's about the women.

“I have been held back in the past by a negative attitude, low self-esteem, insecurity and feeling unloved. The Bean Project is helping me get to work, open up and talk about my feelings, find a place to live and is teaching me job skills. This program and what it stands for is helping me come out of my shell and I want other women to receive the help I’m receiving so they can better their lives.”  ~Waesheia, WBP graduate

Income from the sale of gourmet foods and handcrafted jewelry allows the Bean Project to pay the women a steady wage as they develop solid, transferable work skills in a safe, accepting environment, and strengthen their sense of self-confidence and reliability.  

“This class is not life-skills; it is a life-saver.”  ~Teresa, WBP Graduate

Barriers to employment.

It is only through support of friends like you that the Bean is able to provide a setting in which women are able to address the root causes of their barriers to employment, including:

• Lack of problem solving skills
• Undeveloped communication skills
• Low dependability 
• Inability to set goals

 

These skills represent the foundation for the women to create an authentic sense of self, that ensure the transformation and growth the women have undergone will stick – and they will thrive in their new jobs and remain resilient in all areas of their lives.