Going ‘Back to Basics’ to Help Women and Disadvantaged Job Seekers in Western Pennsylvania
October 5, 2023
Mariel Van Hyning, a young mother of two, was at a crossroads in her life when her mother encouraged her to enroll in Pennsylvania Women Work’s New Choices Career Development program. New Choices is PA Women Work’s flagship program to teach critical job-readiness skills and prepare clients to succeed in the job market.
“I want to set a good example for my two daughters. I was trying to figure out my next step, and New Choices really kick-started my life,” said Mariel, who resides in our West Penn Power service area.
She recalled New Choices helping her “go back to basics,” so she could focus on her goals and set tangible steps to achieve them. She gained a community of other people going through similar challenges and rediscovered herself through the process.
The FirstEnergy Foundation recently awarded a $20,000 grant to PA Women Work to sustain and grow its efforts to help women and other marginalized job seekers secure meaningful jobs that offer well-paying wages in Westmoreland County. In recent years, PA Women Work has expanded programming for clients in more rural communities, such as Westmorland County, to provide holistic workforce development and job placement assistance.
“The services that PA Women Work provides are critical and offer much needed support for women in career transition,” said Nicole King Yohe, attorney, Legal & Corporate Secretary, and chair of PA Women Work’s board of directors. “Their efforts promote local workforce development, align with our business interests and support our employees’ community leadership and volunteer interests.”
A Successful Track Record
In 2022, PA Women Work served more than 1,300 clients, 76% of whom were women, 52% of whom identified themselves as black, indigenous and people of color and 75% of whom were considered low-income. Over the past two years, PA Women Work has almost doubled the number of people it serves in Westmoreland County. |
Offering New Choices
PA Women Work is western Pennsylvania’s premier women-focused workforce development organization. It has a proven track record of helping thousands of others like Mariel succeed. Nearly 90% of New Choices participants earned an average yearly income of about $20,000 prior to taking the class, while earning nearly $32,000 after completion – a nearly 60% wage increase.
The organization focuses on helping individuals overcome employment barriers to build more stable and prosperous futures for themselves and their families. Among its clients are single mothers, immigrants, women in recovery, formerly incarcerated individuals, first-generation college students and others experiencing a barrier to obtaining employment.
To learn more about New Choices and PA Women Work’s additional program offerings, please visit pawomenwork.org*. For additional information about FirstEnergy’s community involvement initiatives, visit firstenergycorp.com/community.
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