New Beginnings Program

Women’s Resource Center’s New Beginnings is a jail-based, trauma-informed workforce and life-development program for justice-involved women (17+) at the Muskegon County Jail. Starting pre-release, participants receive career exploration and coaching, employability and life-skills classes, financial education/coaching using EMPath’s Mobility Mentoring® (Bridge to Self-Sufficiency™), peer mentoring, and wrap-around planning. The curriculum also includes Parenting Inside Out (in partnership with Hope Network) to strengthen family stability.

Post-release, women continue one-on-one coaching focused on goal setting, job search and placement, connection to education/training (e.g., Baker College, Muskegon Community College), and access to community resources through partners such as Muskegon County Community Corrections, READ Muskegon, Lakeshore Housing Alliance, and local human-service providers. The program is designed to reduce recidivism and increase employment and income; in 2024, 6 of 20 women secured employment upon release, with additional participants progressing toward stability through housing, recovery, and skills attainment. New Beginnings will serve ~30 Muskegon County women this grant year.

Alignment with United Way mission/priorities
New Beginnings directly advances United Way of the Lakeshore’s Economic Mobility focus—particularly Financial Coaching and access to jobs, workforce development, and career advancement. By meeting women where they are (inside the jail), delivering coaching that builds executive-function skills and financial capability, and sustaining support after release, the program removes key barriers that keep ALICE households from stable work and income. Helping justice-involved women secure jobs, strengthen finances, and reunify families moves more working families toward meeting basic needs and contributes to United Way’s vision of thriving, equitable communities.