From Poverty to Self-Reliance

Single and/or displaced women and their families face a particularly difficult challenge when seeking to move from a life of poverty and despair to one of hope and self-reliance. CAA and Árbol de Esperanza are working together to help these at-risk women and their families improve their quality of life.

Árbol de Esperanza is a non-profit organization in San Ramón that offers a structured empowerment program to help local women move from poverty to autonomy and self-sufficiency. During this six-month program, participants receive mental health support; general health, hygiene and wellness education; take educational classes in life skills, human rights, and entrepreneurship; and receive job training and internship placement. The goal of the program is to provide the tools and education the women need to change the trajectory of their lives.

For those women working hard to move toward independence and self-sufficiency, food insecurity can be just one more challenge to overcome. When a woman and/or her family lacks enough food to eat or to stay healthy, it is difficult to make progress in the other areas of challenge as well. Thanks to the generosity of its members and friends, CAA has been able to help address the issue of food insecurity on a regular basis for these women and other families in need. With the support of a local grocery store and coordination with Árbol staff, CAA provides funding for the delivery of monthly packages of shelf-stable food items that supply a family’s basic nutritional needs. And as two of the food support recipients have expressed, CAA’s help has made a significant positive contribution to their journey forward and they are very grateful:

Participant A: “I want to thank Árbol de Esperanza and CAA, because when I had economic difficulties, they supported me with food and personal hygiene items to improve my nutritional condition and I am very grateful for that. Thanks for your support.”

Participant B: “I want to thank you for the help provided in times of difficulty, because thanks to the donation of food at a critical time, we were able to cover one of the basic needs we had. Thank you very much!”

So that we can continue to support these women on their journey toward autonomy and self-sufficiency, please consider making a gift to CAA’s program Feeding Hungry Families on Giving Tuesday, November 29.

On that day, go to https://www.globalgiving.org/56450 to complete your donation.

Thank you!