WWEE's mission is to assist low-income individuals to gain the skills, the knowledge, and the courage to be self-supporting.

Description:
WWEE's focus goes beyond simply helping people leave welfare for a low-paying job. The agency employs a comprehensive approach that transforms the lives of our participants by identifying and removing barriers that stand in the way of employment success. As these individuals begin to break the cycle of poverty, they gain the confidence, determination and resourcefulness to thrive in a
professional atmosphere.
WWEE works with participants to achieve a living wage sufficient to support themselves and their families. Our goal is to help them find a \"career\" not just a \"job\". This is accomplished through our core
program which combines essential job search skills with the technical computer skills necessary to be successful in today's business world.

History:
In the early 1980's, four concerned Pierce County Women discovered that there were no programs in the Puget Sound area that addressed the needs of women wanting to get off welfare and become self-sufficient. Washington Women's Employment & Education (WWEE) was founded in Pierce County in 1982 to meet those needs. There were 10 graduates in WWEE's first employment skills class and a growing waiting list for more services. We continued to experience steady growth and after serving Auburn community's clients in Tacoma for 2 years, WWEE opened our doors in King County in 1987.
In the winter of 1998 we implemented our successful Computer Applications & Career Development program (CACD) program in King County. This program provides the added competitive edge of up-to-date computer skills that are critical in today's technology-driven workplace. We began the CACD program in Pierce County in 2000 and in the same year implemented our volunteer mentoring program and formalized our outcome based evaluation measures. In 2001, we launched our website to provide more client outreach and extended the hours of our REACH program. We celebrated our two-year anniversary of our Pierce County Housing Bridge to Self-Sufficiency (HBSS) program in January 2003. This program provides transitional housing assistance and counseling to our homeless clients giving them the additional stability they need to become self-sufficient.

Contact person: Amy Kostelecky, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (253) 474-3366

Address:

3516 So. 47th St. Suite 205 Tacoma, WA 98409 (See a map)