Programs - Women and Children's Centre of the Sierra (WACCS)

Classes and Groups at Women & Children's Center

Membership $ 1 per week, Classes free to qualified members

Women's Wellness

Weekly classes in: Nutrition on a budget; weight loss; staying healthier; very basic exercise; pilates; yoga with a sense of humor.

Classes on nutrition, weight loss, tobacco, followed by a short activity to learn the basics and get your body moving again; Tues. 12.00 - 1.00pm
Beginners Yoga for physical strength and mental calm; Thurs. 3.00pm
Pilates for a strong and fit body; Mon. 2.00pm

Life Skills and Confidence Building

A weekly class designed to learn basic skills for life and to help restore self-esteem.

The class includes:

Recognizing who we really are
Feeling better about yourself
Makeovers
Dress to suit your body type
Successful communication skills
Anger management
Suit up & show up

WINGS - Women in Nevada Growing Stronger

This is a 15-week course about getting off benefits and out of poverty permanently, followed by 12-14 months of mentoring, support groups, and classes.

Thanks to a very generous grant from Nevada Women’s Fund, the “Women In Nevada Growing Stronger” Program is helping some of our most vulnerable clients make long-term, positive and lasting change in their lives. Our goal is to empower them to build a strong, fulfilling and sustainable life for themselves and their children. WINGS provides learning and support on many levels to help participants on their pathway to financial, emotional, physical and family stability. Clients will be eligible for employability training and, possibly, a job in a WACCS business (as they become available), while they train for and pursue a rewarding, well-paid career. WINGS courses and support groups will offer cutting edge social research to enable participants to re-learn successful life skills. At the same time they will be encouraged to address emotional and other issues which may have been holding them back. This program has been modeled on the work of Ruby Payne and Philip DeVol (“Bridges Out Of Poverty” and “Getting Ahead In A Just Getting’ By World”), with some extra material added by WACCS. The model is making a big impact in the lives of people around the country and we are greatly indebted to NWF for granting us the opportunity to do this work.

Getting Ahead in a Just Getting’-By World – Synopsis.

Quoted from “Getting Ahead in a Just Getting’-By World, by Philip E. De Vol (pub; aha! Process Inc., 2004)

Living in poverty makes it hard for people to change. The “What it’s like now” experience is a trap that forces people to live in the moment and, in many cases, in chaos.
Because of this, it is especially important that people in poverty come to understand the big picture of poverty, to learn that poverty is about more than the choices they make.
It is important to learn how poverty impacts individuals. So…learning about the hidden rules of economic class, resources, family structure, and language issues is crucial to doing a critical analysis of the situation.
When people living in poverty understand the big picture, as well as their own issues, they will know what to do for themselves. (Comment in Italics added by WACCS)
Doing a self-assessment of personal resources and an assessment of community resources will allow individuals to make their own plans for economic stability.
Using the hidden rules of economic class to build resources will ease the transition to stability.
Partnerships with the middle class and other people will build crucial support and reinforce newly learned rules. (Comment in Italics added by WACCS)
Working on individual plans is not enough because poverty is a systems problem too. Plans must be made to address community problems.
People in poverty are problem solvers.

Synopsis

Stage One – 15 week course

Module 1.

Individual meeting before beginning group sessions. Orientation covering what to expect and what will be covered. Introduction to the “How it Works Triangle” describing mental models which describe the entire process in diagrammatic form

Module 2. – group sessions begin.

Identify “What it’s like now”; investigate causes of poverty, debt-to –income ratio and income/wage information; make a mental model of life in poverty. This gives a real basis where each family will begin the process.

Module 3.

Learn about the theory of change, changes that will have to be made and why; investigate working with agencies who can facilitate and support the changes.

Module 4.

Understand the causes of poverty; investigate the rich/poor gap and how it works; establish a strategy for protection from financial predators; investigate how life looks in the middle class; introduction to sustainability.

Module 5.

Identify key points to remember about hidden rules of economic class; apply the rules to self; explore different usages of language registers and how they affect misunderstandings/ problems between classes; family structure in poverty and impacts on school learning for children.

Module 6.

Investigate 11 personal & social resources and “social capital”; create individual mental model for “support for change”; case studies and assessment of personal resources.

(11 Resources are: Financial, Emotional, Mental, Language, Social Support, Physical, Spiritual, Integrity & Trust, Motivation & Persistence, Relationships/ Role Models, Knowledge of Hidden Rules.

Module 7.

Motivation and personal assessments.

Module 8

Create mental models of personal access to 11 resources; explore strategies to increase resources; investigate hidden rules that apply to building resources for self.

Module 9.

Develop ways to build resources, including applicable hidden rules of economic class.

Module 10.

Assessment of community resources; create a model to summarize community resources; investigate how participants can influence community attitudes and resources.

Module 11.

Review mental models, notes and stages of change; identify individual areas of strong resources and which need strengthening; create plans for strengthening resources that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time- specific (SMART); create action steps.

Module 12.

Create a mental model for personal plan to get out of poverty. Investigate model for community plan for prosperity – using problem solving skills to build a better life for everyone. (WACCS comment: This is an important aspect for people living in poverty who rely heavily on others for survival and may be afraid to leave their friends behind.)

Module 13.

Closing and transition. Reflections on progress to date and what still needs to be done; assurance of continuing support. Course Completion Awards and celebration.

Stage Two - Participants transition into ongoing support programs:

*** Financial Literacy or “Getting Ahead With Your Money” ***

Experience shows this population has little to no knowledge of even the most basic concepts of planning ahead or saving money. Little attention is paid to consequences of today’s actions on the needs of tomorrow. Therefore, this course will start with the very basics of money planning and management, Under development with input from Nancy Hamilton, Wells Fargo Bank and others.

Positive Communication, Problem Solving and Coping Skills.

Adapted from “Second Step” and taught by Kathleen Johnson, MA, School Counselor, WashoeCountySchool District.

Anger Management and Impulse Control.

Erikson Method, facilitated by Steven Squaglia, CADCI

Life Skills and ConfidenceBuilding

Dress for Success; Colors & Makeovers; Positive Self Speak and self image; Taking care of self for balance in life; Planning ahead and time management. Facilitated by Catherine High, ED WACCS, with guest teaching by community volunteers, including Sherry Sibayan, Carmen Lucero (more to be recruited and managed by Liliana Blum, PhD, WACCS VISTA Volunteer).

Life Coaching and Passion Test Workshop: provided by members of the Nevada Professional Coaches Association.

Social and life- skills mentoring : provided by volunteers from the community.

All the above classes are preceded by a Group Visioning Session, to build trust and give clients an overview of what to expect from the course.

Additional classes and support systems

Women’s Wellness - Nutrition on a budget, yoga, pilates, elementary exercise.

Mental Health Counseling

English as a Second Language

Northern Nevada Diaper Bank

Community Work Experience

Potential employment in a WACCS business (café, childcare).

ALSO AVAILABLE:

Basic Skills for Work	Bookkeeping, Customer service, Retail, personal presentation & attitude.
Women's Counseling Groups	Mental Health Support groups to address issues identified by clients. To include: depression; stress management; personal issues; drug addiction, etc.
ESL	English as a second language
GED Tutoring	Offering assistance with math, English and other GED subjects
Northern Nevada Diaper Bank	Northern Nevada Diaper Bank is a free source of diapers and incontinence supplies for needy families. Eligibilty based on income level and family size.
Legal Information Round Tables	Informal, Lunchtime legal information class. Your chance to speak with a legal professional regarding your issues offering a wide range of legal issues. Please call 348.9565 to reserve your place.