by Mollie Mohr, JfL Intern

Christian Women’s Job Corps of Tyler, TX (CWJC) has flourished by recently adding Jobs for Life to its program. Building on the organization's 12 year history, CWJC of Tyler currently leads five JfL classes - four day classes and one evening class - attracting 90 JfL students.

“It [Jobs for Life] helped us in that it was biblically based and it has the mentor component, which is a key element for the CWJC,” said Becky Grimaud, Executive Director.

Christian Women’s Job Corps of Tyler is a non-profit organization under the Southern Baptist Women’s Missionary Union, and offers job and life skills for women. 

“The mission is to provide employment and lifestyles for women who are at risk of living in poverty,” said Grimaud. “Those of us that are more fortunate have taken for granted knowledge like how to dress at an interview.”

According to Grimaud, CWJC started at Baylor University with a goal of creating a biblically based program. “It [Jobs for Life] helped us recruit more volunteers. Before Jobs for Life, we didn’t have something consistent for the teachers to follow, which made it more difficult to have volunteers.”

CWJC of Tyler depends heavily on volunteers. “There are 36 volunteers, teachers, job coaches, and a prayer team,” said Grimaud. In addition to class volunteers, Grimaud said there are office volunteers, meal coordinators, Sunday school classes, and women groups apart from the JfL classes.

Grimaud said that CWJC of Tyler offers another class called Boundaries, which is a class about learning what emotional boundaries are. “Boundaries sets the stage for JfL, and JfL training reinforces that.”

In using the JfL curriculum, Grimaud said it provided women the information they needed to help other women. “The challenge is finding something that is understandable, and doesn’t talk down to people. What I like about JfL is that each student gets the same information.”

Sandy Adams, Community Development Coordinator and JfL instructor agrees with Grimaud. “In comparison with the curriculum we used to have, I like the format. I am a former teacher, I like the structure, it makes it very easy for a person to come in and teach the class,” said Adams.

She said the most rewarding part of being an instructor is sharing God’s work with them and helping the students realize there is a way to go through life. “The curriculum in itself is very caring; it tells them how worthy they are and how much God wants for them, so it brings them forward which to me is the greatest part,” said Adams.

According to Adams, the mission of Christian Women’s Job Corps is to provide Christian-based training for women who need to go back to work or need to go to work and don’t have the skills to do so. “Jobs for Life literally goes hand in hand with our mission to teach those skills from a biblical standpoint to show those ladies how to get through life, and by using God’s manual.”

Carla Johnston, Jobs for Life Nov. graduate from Arp, TX, said that her faith was strengthened through the friendships and support of CWJC and the JfL training. She was living in Tyler, TX, when she heard about the program through a friend.

“I had been married for 25 years and had not worked many outside jobs. For me, I had a lack of confidence and very limited job skills,” said Johnston.

Along with the job skills CWJC offered, the biggest impact for Johnston was the camaraderie of the other women. “We were all there for the same reason. We had different struggles, but we all wanted to learn the same skills. It was a wonderful experience, and we helped each other and learned about each other,” said Johnston.

Johnston is currently the Director of Hamptons Plus Care Retirement Community in Tyler, TX and has been there for four months. She has 30 employees who provide assistance for residents, helping them with daily activities, while allowing them to remain independent.

Johnston said her experience with the JfL curriculum stayed with her, especially what she learned about resume writing and practicing interviews. “I went to meet the man who ran the Corporation, I remembered the skills, and I had more confidence. He saw that and gave me a chance,” said Johnston.

Johnston believes it was her faith that brought her to where she is today and that it was a miracle that she was hired as Director. She recommends Christian Women Job Corps to anyone, especially women that haven’t been in school or women that find themselves widowed or divorced.

“Everything we learn builds on confidence. Because they [JfL Instructors] do use the bible in the text, it renewed my interest in the bible – and it did more than that – I began to study the word. They used it in the context of the workbook, and it was enough to make me want to know more about the stories,” said Johnston.

Jobs for Life has a purpose: to elevate the power of work to transform lives. By equipping Christian Women’s Job Corps with a Christ-centered curriculum, 90 students are attending the JfL class and several volunteers and mentors are jumping on board.

“One thing I have really noticed about the curriculum as a whole is the way it evolved,” said Adams. “Getting women to look at their mistakes or misfortunes, walking them through where they are now and allowing them to look toward the future; learning from the past and moving forward.”