The Hope Women’s Center in Camp Verde held an open house to share its new programs and expanded day center on Wednesday, June 28.
Hope Women’s Center has been operating in the Phoenix area since 1984 and acquired the Camp Verde location in 2021 from Abide Maternity Home. The Christian Based nonprofit’s goal is to support women and teenage girls in difficult life situations by offering support programs including job training and mentoring, a children’s program and counseling, among others.
The day center was recently expanded with the assistance of a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation, which added classroom space, a children’s program room and a boutique.
The open house also highlighted the Hope for Teens and Every Mother’s Advocate programs.
The Hope for Teens program works with girls ages 13 to 17 to teach adult-defined healthy relationships, teen dating violence prevention, substance abuse prevention and resume building and offer mentoring and community support. The program allows teen girls to connect with each other while learning socially-approved behaviors for long-term economic success.
Every Mother’s Advocate helps women who are at risk with navigating the child welfare system and is designed to prevent the removal of a child from its mother by the state. For example, the program helps find safe places for women in domestic violence situations and their children. The center also helps mothers with reunification with their children as well.
The center is continuing to expand another program, Hope at Work, which is a job training program for all women. The program is very individualized. Participants meet one-on-one with a job coach to figure out what jobs are best for them, build resumes and learn interview skills. The second part of the program includes healthy conflict resolution, communication skills and advocating for oneself.
The center also runs a thrift store that allows women to practice their job skills through paid internships to help prepare them for working. Those who participate earn points that can be used for a voucher good for purchases at the thrift store or boutique.
“We’re really big on no barriers to entry,” said Tammy Abernethy, the center’s CEO. “All of our programs and services are free. Any woman or teen girl can walk in anytime we’re open, no appointments needed.”
Abernethy described the successes of some of the women at the center. One did such a great job working at the thrift store on a temporary basis that she was hired permanently. Another who was struggling with isolation and loneliness was able to find a community through the center.
“Something that’s really key for us is to build that sense of community where a woman is not in isolation, where she knows she has support,” Abernethy said. “Through the relationships that she had built with other women in the program and through our volunteers, she was able to find emotional healing and felt like she was moving forward in a healthy way in her life from things she’s struggled with in the past.”
“Having raised my kids as a single mom, I know how isolating it is and how important knowing that there is support in the community, knowing that you’re not the only woman going through this,” Abernethy continued. “A lot of what we do at Hope Women’s Center is connecting women physically, emotionally and spiritually. We want to make sure that we have offered programs in all three of those areas to really help her thrive and succeed in moving forward in her life.”
Ninety percent of the center’s staff members are volunteers from the local community.
“We love the sense of how the community itself comes alongside our centers,” Abernethy said. “All of our classes, mentors, those all come from the local community, which really makes it a win-win for the community. Our women are coming to a safe place, connecting with other people in their community and forging some great relationships and support out of that.”
