Program areas at Young Women's Freedom Center
This year ywfc expanded its work continuing in our core vision to support Young women and trans youth of all genders to transform their lives and communities and we launched a new division dba Freedom Center, providing fiscal sponsorship and operational support to projects with aligned values. These programs include beloved community housing and the sister warriors Freedom coalition. Through ywfc's core programs, we provided support to over 3,500 youth in 5 counties and provided over 60 youth staff with supportive employment and training to youth between the ages of 14-25. Ywfc led new initiatives that centered the needs of over 300 Young moms to draft a report to advocate for county funding, securing 500k, launched an entrepreneurship training
Ideas and strategies that emerged from the convening have inspired a focus on building viable economic opportunities for formerly incarcerated women and hosted over 30 hours of leadership development training for 25 members across California. Beloved community housing launched its first project, beloved youth, building out a continuum of care, ubi and housing strategy as alternatives to youth incarceration. The project is set to formally enroll families in 2024 in multiple counties across California.
Program in la and oakland serving training over 30 youth. Additional program services included expanded outreach to Young mothers and their families, houseless youth, disconnected youth, and women being released from prison and jail and or escaping intimate partner violence. Services included providing food, stipends, transportation and basic immediate supplies. Additionally, ywfc continued its leadership development work and its advocacy work to change the conditions that keep Young women, girls, and gender expansive youth of color stuck in cycles of poverty, incarceration, and violence. The fiscally sponsored project, sister warriors Freedom coalition held a convening on poverty and had over 150 members in attendance. The
(continued psa statement). Lastly, youth staff, and all staff will continue work with ywfc's Freedom research institute to to develop various research projects that continue to focus on the criminalization of youth and women, housing insecurity, poverty, and the impact of systems on youth women and transgender people of color in California. Data will be used to advance work in santa clara, los angeles, alameda, san francisco, contra costa counties, and statewide across California.