ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

We are offering
Economic Empowerment Programs for Our Survivors in Collaboration with various partners like: UDC, NCC, and DYRS through April 2018. 
We have been searching and praying for years for the right Economic Empowerment programs for our survivors. In collaboration with the University of DC (UDC), 11th Street Bridge Project, National Community Church (NCC), and the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS) we will be starting an urban garden.  The property is owned by NCC and they will loan it to the collaborative through April, 2018. ​
Many of our Ambassadors have expressed a desire to engage with our survivors and so we are hoping to be able to give each survivor who participates in these two projects a mentor. Both men, women, and couples are encouraged to apply. Mentors will be matched with mentees according to their gender.  Mentees will be male, female, and transgender youth. There is no fee to be a mentor but the time commitment is approximately 10 hours per month. Mentors may sign up for more than one cycle.

Who Can Apply
The requirements for both the bakery and garden projects are:
  1. Completed the Ambassadors of Restoration Program (attend 7 out of 9 sessions)
  2. Pass the DYRS legal requirements to engage with the youth 
  3. Attend a four hour training
  4. Attend a two hour monthly supervision meeting 
  5. Commit to meeting with youth at least one of the assigned times either in the garden or farmer’s markets (approximately two hours per week during the three months).
  6. Commit to one of the three month agricultural cycles:
​             March-May
             June-August
             September-November
             December-February

If interested in volunteering, please contact us at info@r199.org

A partnership with Second Rising Bakery.
In addition, we have partnered with Second Rising Bakery. The second rising in bread making is when the dough that was previously mixed, kneaded, and worked over, is carefully shaped and set for its second rising.  This bakery is for survivors who have been freed from sexual exploitation, and like the second rising in bread, survivors from sexual abuse need loving caring help so that they can rise to become the beautiful people they are meant to be. The survivors in our programs will be involved from the planning to food distribution and we see this as an opportunity for them to learn basic business skills that can be easily transformed into other areas of interests. A total of eight youth (four in each project) will participate in each of the growing cycles for a total of 24 youth in 12 months.

Our long-term goal is to open a café that will employ our survivors and bring some much needed revenue back into the organization. If you would like to invest in this business venture, please contact us. 

We love your support!

The cost of running these programs is $60,000 which includes oversight for the programs, group and individual counseling for the youth, and training and supervision for the mentors. Your donation will ensure that our survivors will receive life skill training in a trauma-informed environment.