Project: Welfare to Work

This legacy project now in its tenth year, teaches low-income individuals how to become childcare providers. Project partner Family Service Association of Western Riverside County teaches nine weeks on setting up a child care facility, and SIFE teaches 6 weeks on running a home-based business. This year we expanded our curriculum to a 50-page booklet which the participants use in class and take home as a reference. Classes integrate market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Taught in three communities in Riverside County, in both English and Spanish, and funded by a renewable grant from California First Five and a grant from HSBC. Over the last ten years, the project has impacted more than 850 people, with 35 percent of them starting their businesses and now earning an average of $3,500 a month.