Empowering Women to Become Self-Reliant

I am an Independent Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor and sex therapist. I have extensive experience providing individual, couple, family, and group therapy for the population diagnosed with severe mental illness. My experience includes private practice, community based, state adult and adolescent correctional facilities, and state psychiatric facilities. 

I currently works for the State of Ohio Department of Youth Services as a Behavioral Health Services Administrator (BHSA) where I oversee various behavioral health programs that includes trauma programming, Special Living Unit, Family engagement services, Human trafficking programming, program development etc. 

My experience as a Marriage and Family Therapist with the State of Ohio and as the owner of Ohio Marriage and Family Therapy, LLC. as well as seeing the various benefits and successes of engaging family/support system in individuals impacted by incarceration has motivated me to combine her experiences and develop Hope, Love, and Dream, Inc.

“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.”

This project is under the personal development program category of my organisation.

We believe that women are not just as equal citizens but as agents of economic and social growth. Any development strategy will be lopsided without involving women who constitute half of the world population. Women entrepreneurship has gained momentum since many decades and proved to be successful in many countries including USA. The resultant globalization propelled by investment, technological innovations and manufactured exports has brought a wide range of economic and social opportunities to women entrepreneurs. 

On this belief, this project is aimed toward mobilize and harness the power of women at large to combat against social evils and discriminations which hinders the progress of the women. 

Empowerment of women is closely linked to the opportunities they have in education, health, employment and for political participation. The role played by women in economic development has not been assigned sufficient importance. Women overall and especially the marginalised and black women face gender-specific barriers in access to education, health, and employment. As well, women have little control over assets. Most of the vulnerable women are often under-paid or unpaid for their work. Though, data on literacy rates, enrolments and drop rates in primary education, life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality rates, etc. has shown a progressive trend, other parameters that reflect the status and position of women in society such as work participation rates, sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years and gender based violence continue to be heavily distorted against women. 

The proposed project titled "Empowering Women to become Self-reliant" aims to improve the economic and health condition of women in different vulnerable areas and capacity building/skill development training programs. Since this area is very broad therefore the geographic area of implementation will be chosen from the geographic area of the organisation's past experience after assessing the project received funding and need assessment. The project envisages providing a sustainable source of income to the beneficiaries by connecting them to safety nets, employment centre and improving their health parameters through health awareness

Beneficiary for this programme will be most vulnerable women especially marginalized and women from minority group and they will be identified through a proper baseline survey. 

The Identification will include a comprehensive study of women vulnerability in selected areas and the self-help group will formed for the purpose of identifications. This is the most important activity, since the progress of the project depends on the women selected to compose self help groups. The area of implementation will be the organisation's past interventions as we have better knowledge of those areas and expected project outcomes. 50 self help groups will be formed constituting 10 members in each group. A total of 500 beneficiaries would target during the project tenure. These group will be connected to each other through a network which we will develop and it will be in the shape of a virtual network to ensure close coordinations. 

• This project will ensure that women have access to effective health services, become self reliant and create awareness among people so that we grow in empathy, wisdom, and love. 
• It will help bring out the real heroes among those women who are traditionally left behind 
• It is powerful solutions that can elevate humanity, inspire movements, mobilize people, and catalyze positive, transformational change especially for women.
• This project is intended to elevate the issue of women and their solution by building awareness and driving positive action to solve the most difficult problem of the world that is revolving around women. 

Women are among those highly effected within many community groups. They have wonderful ideas and energy but unfortunately they are facing many barrier in the way and they don't get access to the resources as other majority does. We are living in a world where diversity exists but some of the human are not treating each other based on racial differences, color, creed and minority statuses. We belong to same community. Myself and my team has witnessed many young leaders with wonderful ideas but poverty, lack of access to proper awareness on women rights and lack of access to proper safety nets, most women are unable to achieve what they envision for their future. This is where we come in and want to give hands to women who are marginalized, and struggling to make them self reliant.    

We believe women have the potential to boost the country's economy and especially shoulder the country and the world especially in this COVID-19 crisis. We consider every women is country's wonderful asset shoulder to shoulder as men and they are all equal.  We human has now the responsibility to create inclusivity and let everyone access their share and resources equally. Therefore we are here to help those who are marginalized and left behind. .

We consider well positioned toward this solution because we are team of like minded person, mostly belong to same community, most of my team members are women and we as ourselves has passed through the same difficulties which a normal vulnerable women is passing through therefore we knows, what are the problem and what can be the best possible solution.

From the start of my career, after completing the eduction, things looked very difficult. I faced many naysayers and also witnessed biased and sort of bullying too. But I found, either to focus on negative and live with it, or to ignore things and prove myself. I choose the later one. Today I am happy I have enabled myself to bring like minded people with me in a team and now on the mission to help those marginalized people especially women who are facing the challenges. 

As the owner of Ohio Marriage and Family Therapy, LLC., State of Ohio Central Office employee, and Marriage and Family Therapist national advocate I have demonstrated my leadership ability in various ways of speaking up in times when it is not as popular to speak up about the effects of prison on an individual and their family.  

I often travel to Washington D.C. to advocate for the rights of Marriage and Family Therapist to US. State representatives and senators.  To garner support for the advance of the profession and the people we serve.  I also am an advocate for individuals incarcerated and in my various positions with the State of Ohio over the past 8 years, have developed various programs and services specifically for engaging families and children in the treatment and services of individuals incarcerated in adult prison, state forensic psychiatric facilities, and Juvenile Justice correctional facilities

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The innovation of this project is based on its unique nature. This project aims to make a women self reliant and will become a role model for same type of initiatives in future especially in western societies. This is a game changing idea because women are the most important part of the society but specifically in marginalized and poor societies, these women do not reach to the resources they have rights for and therefore they are unable to develop what they really deserves. If this project is successful, it will work like a butterfly affect replicating itself in more future initiative of the same kind. 

Goal: To improve economic and health conditions of women beneficiaries in the area of intervention of the organisation

Objectives

1. To form 50 women Self Help Groups and improve their knowledge and skills toward successful livelihood through capacity building programs.

2. To improve the health parameters of the Self Help Groups members and generate livelihood opportunities for the beneficiaries by promoting group entrepreneurship in the target areas.

3. To sustain the income generating activities in the areas through establishment of their connection to safety nets and market linkages. 

We are planning to serve 60,000 people within our first year. Within 5 years we are planning to triple the amount served at 180,000.  (These are modest estimates)

Our long term goal is to empower and work with families and individuals impacted by incarceration to develop a successful future through individual, couple, and family therapy, personal development, and professional development. By assisting those affected by incarceration, we aim to serve, build, and strengthen’ individuals, families and communities by improving social bonds.

Our next year work goal  is to help 60,000 needy people for the services mentioned above in our long term goal. 

Financing such initiative is a barriers since we have started this business on small investment. We have great ideas, initiatives and potentials but biggest barrier so far is funding this initiative. COVID-19 and some unrest due to recent ethnic conflict are among the upcoming burning barriers.

To overcome pandemic and ethnic crisis, we are engaging digitally and bringing most of our services virtual. At the same time we have started advocating for peace a different platform and advocating for gender equality. For financial challenge, we are optimistic to win this funding, prize and also have started grants and investment research to boost up the financial resources. 

We are well connected to same type of organisation and at the soonest possible we are going to get in a strategic partnership, alliance and consortium. 

The business model is developed from the understanding that re-entry s is one of the main routes to a lot of our social ills in the at-risk communities. There is a growing need for quality education, Community Services and Behavioral Health, empowerment and mentoring services through a well-structured and easily practicable measures; and there exists a substantial opportunity to cater for these needs, adopting innovative concept.

Our nonprofit business model is on a belief which is "to empower and work with families and individuals impacted by incarceration to develop a successful future through individual, couple, and family therapy, personal development, and professional development. By assisting those affected by incarceration, we aim to serve, build, and strengthen’ individuals, families and communities by improving social bonds."

Our path to financial sustainability involves billing Medicaid/Medicaid and private insurance companies for individual, couples, family, and group therapy services.  We also plan to charge fee-based services for our consultation services to federal, state, county, city, and private correctional facilities on enhancing family engagement services.  We will also offer Forensic Evaluation services as a fee-based service as well.  This will help sustain the organization as well as the other program areas of personal development and professional development services.  We also plan to offer fundraiser, identify investors, apply for grants, and solicit donations.

We are fundraising from individual donors, fundraising events, government contracts, institutional funding etc but it is very limited as for this year it is only reached to 100,000 USD. 

We need almost three fold of this amount to reach the programs we are targeted and this why we are reaching to different funders and donors to fund our initiatives. We have now started strong resources mobilisation and we are confident, we will reach soon to our financial sustainability. 

At this time, we have begun to raise funds by selling Black Lives Matter signs.  We also have plans to sale T-Shirts to help generate revenue.  Our board of directors are also contributed to the revenue of the organization.

We are reaching to different funders and donors to fund our initiatives. We have now started strong resources mobilisation and we are confident, we will reach soon to our financial sustainability. We are targeting to raise 300,000 USD by next year. 

Our budget (including the program and operational cost) forecasted for next year will be in between 250,000 USD to 300,000. The major percentage (almost 85%) will go to program cost as we are decreasing time to time our administrative expenses.  

The Elevator prize will enable us to seed this initiative project and enable to serve the vulnerable women as we envisioned in this project. I believe The Elevator prize (Solve) is the best and fit platform and prize to bring this solution because no other platform will understand better the issues of women and their rights, other than solve.

We are intended to expand our partnership network where other partner, who have the same shared goals should come together, share resources and provide expertise we lack and as well provide financial support and assistance.

We want to involve in partnership with MIT, organizations with same initiatives, CSR Forums, Entrepreneurs Networks and financial advising organizations. 

We would like to partner with the following organizations (this is not a fully encompassed list):

•  Birthright Africa organization https://birthrightafrica.org/
• National Council for Behavioral Health https://www.TheNationalCouncil.org
• https://www.Homelessfamiliesfoundationorg 
• Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County https://www.hztrust.org

We have almost the same shared goals and I am confident they can help us in our initiative in technical and also possibly in financial terms.