Domestic abuse and unemployment are daily realities for many women across the USA. Organizations that provide job training and social services enable them to secure sustainable, living-wage jobs, support their families and safely transition from poverty to economic self-sufficiency.

Featured here are two such organizations. LA MUJER OBRERA (The Working Woman) in El Paso, Texas, uses a women-centered curriculum that provides Mexican immigrant women with job training for the 21st century. This innovative approach to education combines community organizing with the creation of economic alternatives and bilingual workforce development. The WOMEN’S INITIATIVE NETWORK (WIN) of Wichita, Kansas, serves women escaping domestic violence. Survivors of abuse are provided with emotional support as well as educational and employment opportunities througha social services model that fosters healing, self-worth, and self-sufficiency.