Empowerment Services
Overview of Empowerment Services
Fresh Start’s Empowerment Specialists are social workers who can provide individual support to women as they face various life transitions, seek opportunities for new growth, and set personal and professional development goals. Empowerment Specialists can work with you one-on-one to help you prioritize your current needs and create an action plan for accessing community resources and connecting you to Fresh Start’s own life-enhancing services to support you on your road to empowerment. Attendance at Fresh Start 101 is highly recommended prior to meeting with an Empowerment Specialist.
How Can We Help?
Fresh Start 101
All clients are strongly encouraged but not required to attend a Fresh Start 101 orientation session prior to participation in other Personal Development Services. Fresh Start 101 orientation sessions may be facilitated by Empowerment Specialists, interns, front desk staff, and/or other Fresh Start staff members.
Following Fresh Start 101 clients will have the opportunity to sign up for a one on one meeting with an Empowerment Specialist or intern.
Individual Empowerment Session
One-on-one meetings with Fresh Start Empowerment Specialists or interns provide an opportunity to discuss your current needs, receive personal support, and be linked to community resources. Empowerment staff will support you in the creation of a personal action plan to meet your immediate needs and help you set long term goals. Empowerment staff offer ongoing support as you progress towards your current goals and formulate new goals for the future.
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Empowerment Support Groups
Empowerment Roadmap Groups
The empowerment road map group is a supportive educational group to help you assess your current strengths and develop a road map for achieving your long-term goals. Have you struggled with setting goals in the past? Do you feel like you have goals but don’t know how to achieve them? Do you need support in following through on the goals you have set for yourself? Led by Fresh Start Empowerment Staff, this group will help you identify your personal strengths and resources as well as new opportunities for growth to start you on your road to personal empowerment. This group requires pre-registration. Call 602-261-7135. 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month, 4:30 to 5:30 pm
The Second Half
This support group is for women over 45 wanting to plan for “the second half” of their life while also examining the path they chose during the first half. If you now face an empty nest, you may be experiencing an array of feelings, including relief, remorse, or regret. If you have been career-concentrated most of your life, you may now desire a different focus or new dreams. In this group, we will take a look at our life journey thus far and “pack” for the journey we choose to take in the second half of life. Tuesdays, May 26-July 14, 6 to 7:45 pm. This is an 8-week, closed group limited in size. You must pre-register by calling 602-261-7172.
Women Together for Health
It’s never too early or late to get serious about looking better and feeling healthier! In this supportive, 8-week series, you will gather once a week with other women ages 18-45 looking to build healthier lifestyles. You will learn about managing stress; taking care of your body; preventing diseases, including those for which you may be at high risk; nutrition and healthy eating, including how to buy for and prepare simple, healthy meals; and fitness and physical wellness practices you can easily incorporate into your daily routine. Take away key information, tips, tools, and techniques to support looking better, feeling more energetic, and being healthy for a lifetime! Thursdays, May 7-June 25, 6 to 7:15 pm
Entrepreneur Group
Thinking about starting your own business? Already own a business? Looking for support, ideas, and information about the in’s and out’s of self employment? Join us once a month for education and encouragement around entrepreneurship and women’s business ownership. 2nd Thursday of every month, 2 to 3:30 pm
Career Encouragement Group
Are you unsure about how to conduct a job search and market yourself effectively in this troubling economy? Join the Career Services Department and other fellow job seekers for this brand new encouragement group to assist you in becoming more confident in your job search. Each session will include an opportunity to receive education on key job searching tactics, share resources and network with fellow job seekers, and the opportunity to gain the encouragement needed to be more successful in your job search! 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month, 10 to 11:30 am
Women Financial Education & Empowerment Group
Financial independence can free you to do what you really want to do in life, focus on what truly matters, and eliminate worry over how to make ends meet. In this group, we demystify investing and learn “secrets” to wealth-building. Women meet every month to educate each other and play Cashflow 101, a board game that teaches investing wisdom and strategies in a fun, risk-free format. 2nd Saturday of every month, 1 to 4 pm (except June – no group)
Life Coaching in Action
Join internationally renowned Dr. Elaine Goldman for a powerful experience in Focused Action therapy! Most human beings go through their lives saying one thing, thinking another, feeling a third, and then proceeding to do a fourth that has nothing to do with the previous three. One of the goals of Focused Action therapy is to help the individual integrate her words, thoughts, and feelings into her behavior and thus into her life experience. Focused Action also works to facilitate a wholeness and openness in ourselves and others. Every other Thursday, June 4-August 13, 6 to 7 pm
Divorce Support Group
This group is for women who are divorced, going through a divorce, or who have recently separated. Explore ways to heal emotional trauma and stay strong during this transition. Share strengths, stories, and experiences with other women to help you move forward. 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month, 6 to 7:30 pm
Bereavement Support Group
The death of a loved one is one of the most powerful emotional experiences we can know, turning our lives upside down and inside out. Come process and heal with others who have also experienced painful loss. This group does not deal with the loss of a pet. Wednesdays, 6 to 7:30 pm
Arizona ESUBA: Women Helping Women Turn Abuse Around
In partnership with ASU’s School of Social Work, Arizona ESUBA is a 10-week group for women who have experienced abuse or trauma in their lives. The goals of ESUBA are to: identify abusive behaviors; learn about the dynamics of violence and abuse; discuss how past experiences of abuse impact our lives today; release the past and heal for the future; and identify how to develop and maintain healthy relationships. ESUBA is a promising intervention that has shown to decrease trauma symptoms and help increase self-esteem. Pre-registration is required. To register, please call 602-261-7172. Thursdays, May 14-July 16, 6 to 7:45 pm
Surviving Abuse
Women who are experiencing or have experienced domestic violence come together in support of each other. Join this group to share your experiences and learn from others about their journey into leading safer, healthier lives. Tuesdays, 6 to 7:30 pm – Facilitated by Sojourner Center Staff, Thursdays, 10 to 11:30 am – Facilitated by JFCS Shelter Without Walls Staff
Alcoholics Anonymous
The purpose of this AA group is to encourage women to share experiences, strength, and hope with each other so that they might recover from alcoholism and help others do the same. Tuesdays, 6:30 to 7:30 pm (women only)