Helping Women Back into the Workforce

In 2002 Gillian Nelson was with her two young daughters in a domestic violence shelter in New York, living on food stamps and welfare, barely getting by. She had finally broken free from her abusive husband of five years. But even when Nelson had regular work cleaning apartments and waiting tables, she could only earn about $10,000 a year. At times she had to choose between paying the bills and putting food on the table.

Today Nelson makes $40,000 a year working the overnight shift in the engineering department of Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Manhattan. She is in the process of obtaining green cards to bring her sons over from Trinidad to join her and her daughters.

Like over 450 other women, Nelson turned around her life through Women and Work, a job-training program that helps women in financial or emotional hardship enter or reenter the workforce and rebuild their shattered lives. The program was begun in 1999 at Queens College out of the life experiences of Carmella Marrone, who nine years before had been diagnosed with cancer and lost everything: a comfortable corporate career, her home, and savings. By the time she recovered, Marrone faced the daunting task of re-entering a changed job market without a college degree. After getting BAs in women’s studies and sociology, followed by an MA in applied social research, all from QC, Marrone created Women and Work, which has been growing ever since. Its graduates often return as mentors to inspire and help support its current students.

According to Marrone, victims of domestic violence are trapped in a vicious cycle, and unless they can achieve financial independence, they never escape. Graduates from Women and Work have an 85% retention rate in the workplace over three years—by contrast, the government uses three months as the measure of successful job retention. Women and Work is recognized by New York City as an Authorized Training Program, but the program doesn’t receive a cent of financial support from the city or any other government agency.