One afternoon Natoshi DuBose was searching the web and came across an article about Women’s Empowerment’s Get A Job Kit program. She clicked on the link which brought her to the Women’s Empowerment website and promptly registered for an orientation.

“I was worried about the referral process, and didn’t think I’d get in.” But she did, and was accepted as a member of Session 60.

At the time Natoshi had just given birth to her first child and was suffering from postpartum depression. She was unemployed and was staying with relatives. It was hard for her to trust others taking care of her baby boy but came to appreciate the support the child care center provided.

Natoshi was on welfare, something she vowed she’d never receive. She attended Chico State and Butte College as a young adult, but nonetheless found herself homeless more than once.

She’s worked hard to get back into the workforce and is working towards financial independence, where she will no longer be reliant on these services.

After graduating from Women’s Empowerment, Natoshi applied for the Get A Job Kit program, her way of discovering WE in the first place. She completed the program in late December of 2015 and went on to participate in our Money Matters course.

Natoshi has done it all, and Women’s Empowerment can’t seem to shake this determined woman. She is currently a part of the Community Work Exchange Program through CalWorks and has worked 20 hours a week, for the last six months at Women’s Empowerment to complete her customer service training. She is also working on a Bachelors of Science and Health Administration from South University, and is set to graduate in the coming months.

In the near future Natoshi plans to reopen For My Sister’s House, a nonprofit organization her mother founded for breast cancer awareness. She will also work towards a PhD and own a home. In the meantime Natoshi is awaiting the arrival of her next child, due in late September.

If there is one thing Natoshi wants women considering the program to know it’s that, “Some people expect Women’s Empowerment to change their lives, and it will, but you have to put the work in, in order to do so.”

Posted by Kate Towson on Thursday, August 18th, 2016 @ 9:04PM
Categories: My Story, Summer Stories