Workshops include budgeting, job interview prep and wellness
One year ago, a woman staying at Armagh, a Mississauga, Ont.-based home for battered women who are transitioning from an emergency shelter to housing of their own, attended the third annual General Electric Day of Empowerment.
After a series of workshops, including resumé and job interview preparation, she returned to Armagh energized and brimming with self-confidence. She approached Catherine Fox, the home’s executive director, about leading a workshop of her own to share what she learned with other women who weren’t able to attend the event at GE Canada’s headquarters in Mississauga.
“She never would have stepped up before,” said Fox.
The day was a revelation for the woman because she realized she already knew most of what was being taught in the workshops but, after years of her abusive partner telling her she was worthless, she had stopped believing in herself.
“She said, ‘I’m not as stupid as he always said I was,’” said Fox. The day at the Canadian arm of the Fairfield, Conn.-based technology and services conglomerate helped the woman regain her confidence and a few months later she started law school.
GE’s Day of Empowerment started four years ago with a small group of women from one shelter in Mississauga. This year the event included 79 women and 54 children from eight different shelters across the Greater Toronto Area.
Domestic abuse destroys a woman’s self-esteem and she begins to believe she deserves the abuse and is powerless, said Cindy Cowan, executive director of Interim Place, which has two shelters in Peel Region and sent 20 women to the event this year. GE’s Day of Empowerment helps turn that around.
“Here’s a day where the whole theme of the day is, ‘You are valuable, you are important and you’re worth an investment,’” she said. “The whole day is about valuing women and providing them with a special experience and recognizing the enormous strength it takes for a woman to survive. But this day is beyond survival and it’s about thriving.”
Being able to bring their children to the event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., is also very important to the women who participate because it means they don’t have to worry about child care, said Cowan.
The children, who have witnessed or suffered abuse themselves, have the chance to just be kids for the day and play baseball, go on a treasure hunt, watch movies or have their faces painted, said Sarah Triantafillou, public relations associate at GE and co-chair of the GE Day of Empowerment. This year she heard one of the children say, “Mom, they must really like us here,” while another one said he was glad his dad wasn’t there to spoil the day.
Knowing their children are having fun lifts a weight off the women’s minds, said Triantafillou.
“The women can really focus on themselves through these life-skills workshops,” she said.
Over the past four years, the workshops have evolved to meet the needs of the participants. This year’s workshops included how to eat well on a budget, an introduction to the Internet and job searching, image consulting, job interview techniques, resumé writing, stress management and the importance of nutrition and exercise.
After the workshops, the women can go to the “GE boutique” — stocked with donations of gently used clothes, purses, shoes and other goodies — and pick out whatever they like. They also receive a gift basket filled with brand new items donated by various GE vendors and suppliers.
“They’re just over the moon and can’t believe this is all for them,” said Triantafillou. “By the end of the day, they really leave with a new sense of hope.”
The women who participate in the event from Northumberland Services for Women, a shelter in Cobourg, Ont., come back feeling inspired and pampered, said Jane Lang, the shelter’s program manager.
“It’s really well named because it is quite empowering for them,” she said. “It gives them some tangible tools to help them in their career path or in moving forward with their life.”
Army of volunteers
To make the day a success, more than 100 of the 1,200 employees who work in the Mississauga offices volunteer their time and expertise.
“The army of volunteers who help out look forward to it every year and they’re very, very dedicated to these women,” said Triantafillou.
With 10,000 employees across the country, GE is considering adding similar events in other locations, especially in Western Canada, she said.
“We’re always looking at ways to make this event grow bigger and better,” she said.
With so much going on during the day, planning for the July event starts in January. But this year, Louella Witney, GE’s shelter liaison and the administrator for GE Health Care, will start even earlier. She’s holding a conference call this month with executives from the various shelters to find out what worked well this year and where GE can improve.
One thing that can’t get any better is Witney’s feeling of satisfaction and pride in her employer for being involved in the event.
“It gives you such a great feeling that you’ve helped to put a smile on somebody’s face, even if it’s just for one day,” she said.
The event has also made Witney realize how fortunate she is.
“When you sit in on some of the sessions, just hearing some of their stories, it’s a real eye opener,” she said. Many of the women in the shelters left home with next to nothing and the things others take for granted, such as a new pair of shoes or a nice outfit for a job interview, are out of reach, she said.
“It’s like starting over. I don’t know if I could do what those ladies do,” said Witney.
This year was the first time Steve Knox, the director of recruiting for GE Canada, led the interview techniques workshop.
At first the women, many of whom had never been on a job interview or hadn’t been on one in a long time, were afraid of the whole process. But after the session, they were all excited to go out and apply for jobs, said Knox.
“It’s extremely rewarding to be able to give them the tools to be successful,” he said.
After a series of workshops, including resumé and job interview preparation, she returned to Armagh energized and brimming with self-confidence. She approached Catherine Fox, the home’s executive director, about leading a workshop of her own to share what she learned with other women who weren’t able to attend the event at GE Canada’s headquarters in Mississauga.
“She never would have stepped up before,” said Fox.
The day was a revelation for the woman because she realized she already knew most of what was being taught in the workshops but, after years of her abusive partner telling her she was worthless, she had stopped believing in herself.
“She said, ‘I’m not as stupid as he always said I was,’” said Fox. The day at the Canadian arm of the Fairfield, Conn.-based technology and services conglomerate helped the woman regain her confidence and a few months later she started law school.
GE’s Day of Empowerment started four years ago with a small group of women from one shelter in Mississauga. This year the event included 79 women and 54 children from eight different shelters across the Greater Toronto Area.
Domestic abuse destroys a woman’s self-esteem and she begins to believe she deserves the abuse and is powerless, said Cindy Cowan, executive director of Interim Place, which has two shelters in Peel Region and sent 20 women to the event this year. GE’s Day of Empowerment helps turn that around.
“Here’s a day where the whole theme of the day is, ‘You are valuable, you are important and you’re worth an investment,’” she said. “The whole day is about valuing women and providing them with a special experience and recognizing the enormous strength it takes for a woman to survive. But this day is beyond survival and it’s about thriving.”
Being able to bring their children to the event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., is also very important to the women who participate because it means they don’t have to worry about child care, said Cowan.
The children, who have witnessed or suffered abuse themselves, have the chance to just be kids for the day and play baseball, go on a treasure hunt, watch movies or have their faces painted, said Sarah Triantafillou, public relations associate at GE and co-chair of the GE Day of Empowerment. This year she heard one of the children say, “Mom, they must really like us here,” while another one said he was glad his dad wasn’t there to spoil the day.
Knowing their children are having fun lifts a weight off the women’s minds, said Triantafillou.
“The women can really focus on themselves through these life-skills workshops,” she said.
Over the past four years, the workshops have evolved to meet the needs of the participants. This year’s workshops included how to eat well on a budget, an introduction to the Internet and job searching, image consulting, job interview techniques, resumé writing, stress management and the importance of nutrition and exercise.
After the workshops, the women can go to the “GE boutique” — stocked with donations of gently used clothes, purses, shoes and other goodies — and pick out whatever they like. They also receive a gift basket filled with brand new items donated by various GE vendors and suppliers.
“They’re just over the moon and can’t believe this is all for them,” said Triantafillou. “By the end of the day, they really leave with a new sense of hope.”
The women who participate in the event from Northumberland Services for Women, a shelter in Cobourg, Ont., come back feeling inspired and pampered, said Jane Lang, the shelter’s program manager.
“It’s really well named because it is quite empowering for them,” she said. “It gives them some tangible tools to help them in their career path or in moving forward with their life.”
Army of volunteers
To make the day a success, more than 100 of the 1,200 employees who work in the Mississauga offices volunteer their time and expertise.
“The army of volunteers who help out look forward to it every year and they’re very, very dedicated to these women,” said Triantafillou.
With 10,000 employees across the country, GE is considering adding similar events in other locations, especially in Western Canada, she said.
“We’re always looking at ways to make this event grow bigger and better,” she said.
With so much going on during the day, planning for the July event starts in January. But this year, Louella Witney, GE’s shelter liaison and the administrator for GE Health Care, will start even earlier. She’s holding a conference call this month with executives from the various shelters to find out what worked well this year and where GE can improve.
One thing that can’t get any better is Witney’s feeling of satisfaction and pride in her employer for being involved in the event.
“It gives you such a great feeling that you’ve helped to put a smile on somebody’s face, even if it’s just for one day,” she said.
The event has also made Witney realize how fortunate she is.
“When you sit in on some of the sessions, just hearing some of their stories, it’s a real eye opener,” she said. Many of the women in the shelters left home with next to nothing and the things others take for granted, such as a new pair of shoes or a nice outfit for a job interview, are out of reach, she said.
“It’s like starting over. I don’t know if I could do what those ladies do,” said Witney.
This year was the first time Steve Knox, the director of recruiting for GE Canada, led the interview techniques workshop.
At first the women, many of whom had never been on a job interview or hadn’t been on one in a long time, were afraid of the whole process. But after the session, they were all excited to go out and apply for jobs, said Knox.
“It’s extremely rewarding to be able to give them the tools to be successful,” he said.
