Leona and Jen have both been receiving support from Anawim for over a year and have made significant progress through courses, counselling and one to one sessions with their specialist caseworkers. At the start of her journey, Leona had recently left prison and Jen was a full time Mum, living at home with her three children. Both women had been unemployed for some time and knew that their complex situations needed to be worked through before looking for employment again.
Now, 14 months later, Leona is beginning a new course at college through which she will develop the skills to enter into employment when she feels ready. Through Anawim’s Peer Mentor programme, Leona’s confidence has improved and self-esteem increased, meaning that she feels able to move on from Anawim, and is currently in the process of applying for volunteer positions at other agencies. We’ve supported Leona to access the internet at home in order to complete online courses by applying for funding to cover Leona’s broadband costs.
Jen is now looking at her future – what she wants and what she needs for herself and her children. Moving forward Jen will continue to engage with one to one counselling and is preparing to move on from Anawim into full time employment. Like Leona, Jen has developed valuable supporting and listening skills through our Peer Mentor programme and have been great Ambassadors for Anawim, volunteering to share their stories and experiences at events and forums, supporting our mission to influence policy and bring about change for women in Birmingham.