Help us hire a single mother

Hello, I’m Tracey Weaver, founder of urban university (uu) and Single Moms at Work, a social enterprise and on-the-job training program that assists single moms in developing the skills that lead to private sector job placement.

Such employment begins in our own urban furniture and boutique, starting the cycle out of public assistance, moving towards social and economic independence for the mothers and their families. I am excited to invite you to partner with us to raise $10,000 that we will use to employ and train a single mom as a Customer Service Associate for 6 months in our boutique, giving her the opportunity to earn a wage while learning skills that will serve her and her family forever. 

Mom learning to post items for sale on e-site by Kara

The money we raise through this page will be matched by Alameda County, ensuring that the mom you are helping here is able to earn a living wage while in training. Any money raised above the $10,000 through this page will be used to cover the gaps in much needed program costs, including salaries of the team members who train, coach, and support our newly hired mom.

Annual Mother's Day Celebration at the store

Our social enterprise Urban Furniture and Boutique, on Grand Avenue in Oakland, CA, brings in the funds to keep our program afloat at the minimum levels. We want to ensure our programs can survive and our moms can thrive, so we are turning to you, the community, to join us in this effort.

Tracey & Donna, graduate of Single Moms at Work, now a F/T Shift Supervisor with Home Depot

As a participant in our Single Moms at Work Program, our newly hired mom will benefit from:

-          More than 1,000 hours of retail and customer service skills & technologies training,

-          Contextualized math and computer skills,

-          E-commerce platform sales training

-          Individualized coaching designed specifically to address the personal and professional challenges uniquely faced by low-income mothers,

-          A professional resume and mock interviews,

-          Interviews at partner employers in the private and public sectors,

-          Ongoing employment retention coaching.

Perhaps the most enduring benefit – and a meaningful return on your investment! – is the increased self-esteem and self-efficacy that is experienced by mothers in our program, changes that stabilize her and her children’s lives, within an inspiring learning environment. Please join us, and a newly hired mom, on this journey to self-sufficiency. 

From the fullness of my heart, I thank you. Tracey.

About UU

Established in 1998, uu is an award winning 501c3 nonprofit organization with the mission of improving the socio-economic status of impoverished individuals by providing employability training, coaching, and transitional employment. For over 19 years, we have assisted more than 1,700 individuals with barriers to employment with the successful transition into gainful employment, including single mothers moving off of public assistance, emancipated foster care young adults, veterans, and non-violent formerly incarcerated community members.

By teaming up with local community colleges, nonprofit organizations, and employers, we deliver self-esteem and sector based skills training and individualized coaching. Our work with program participants has led to jobs in the legal, healthcare, utilities, construction, and STEM industries, with earnings averaging $40,000/year, with full benefits. Please learn more at www.urbanuniv.org.


Volunteers 

In 2009, we adopted a retail social enterprise model, as a way to increase our impact in the comunity.  With a unique focus on single parents living below the poverty line, we first opened urban furniture, a reuse furniture store, to launch our program.  One year later, we opened urban boutique, offering reuse clothing as an additional enterprise.  


Danita preparing new inventory 

Soon after, the lease of a house was donated to our organization, resulting in our launch of urban house, transitional housing to single parents.

urban house

In 2016, we made a strategic financial decision to consolidate urban furniture and boutique into one smaller space. We also decided to focus our efforts primarily on single mothers, the most impoverished and vulnerable family unit living in Alameda County. We’ve combined our two stores to deliver Single Moms at Work, strengthening our innovative solution to poverty and inequality. 

Our collective effort is the soul of our work, and we hope that your financial assistance will help us reach new heights: for our store, for our community, and, especially, for our moms and their children. 

To learn more about uu, Single Moms At Work, and the critical need for employment assistance to single moms living in Alameda County, please go to our website: www.urbanuniv.org.


Thank you so much for your support. We welcome you to the uu/SMAW community!