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Support CWEE’s Work With the Most Generous Gift You Can Send

Dear Friend of CWEE,

All her life, Daisy Ojeda had been told she wouldn’t amount to much. And until she participated in the Center for Work Education and Employment (CWEE)’s programs, she believed it.

“I used to put myself down a lot,” says Daisy. “Now I have confidence in myself. Now I know I can do anything I put my mind to.”

She credits her attitude shift to CWEE, where teachers, mentors, and other staff members believed in her even when she didn’t believe in herself.

When Daisy was referred to CWEE in 2009, she was a single mother who’d just lost her job and relied on Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) to support her three small children. Over the course of the CWEE program, starting with getting to know herself, then advancing to GED preparation, computer training, resume writing, and job interviewing.

“A lot of people move through the program faster than I did,” she says. “I had a hard time, especially getting my GED and the math

But CWEE instructors refused to give up on her. When Daisy struggled to understand something, they explained it another way. When she said, “I can’t,” they looked her in the eye and said, “You can.” When she doubted herself, they convinced her to hang on just one more day—and one more day became weeks, and months, until she made it through CWEE’s program.

Today, Daisy has achieved everything she set out to do and more. She works at a dental office—a job she’s held for the past year. She’s earned her GED and plans to go back to school to get her dental assistant certificate in January. She’s supporting her family and has become a role model for her children.

“CWEE changed who I am, both as a person and a parent,” says Daisy. “I encourage my kids to do well in school. I tell my six-year-old daughter, ‘You’re smart. You can do this. Today is going to be a great day.’”

CWEE fosters personal and professional transformation for low-income single parent families through confidence building, customized skills training, and career advancement. Daisy is just one of many beneficiaries of the organization’s valuable career-readiness program. In fiscal year 2011, CWEE placed 196 participants in jobs with an average wage of $8.94 per hour, helped 81 participants attain their GED, an important milestone in the journey to self-sufficiency, and awarded 219 computer certificates in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Medical Terminology. Since its inception in 1982, CWEE has empowered over 10,000 participants.

Today, more than a year after finishing the life-altering program at CWEE, Daisy remains grateful for the assistance and still keeps in touch with her CWEE mentors and case manager.

“I don’t think I would have made it without all the help,” she says of CWEE’s supplemental services. For Daisy, that included two interview outfits from the organization’s on-site 1st Impressions Boutique, money for car repairs so she could get to her job, and holiday gifts so she could give her children a nice Christmas.

“Thanks to CWEE, I’m not the person people used to say I was,” says Daisy.

CWEE gives struggling families what they need to succeed—not just vital skills and qualifications for today’s job market, but also hope and confidence. That is why it’s important to support CWEE’s work with the most generous gift you can send. Donate Now.

All donations are tax deductible and gifts of $250 or more are qualified to receive a 25% credit through the Denver Enterprise Zone.*
 

Thank you so much for your continued kindness and thoughtful support.

Sincerely,

Laurie Harvey                                                      
Executive Director                                                  

* DEZ forms and information are sent on a quarterly basis for qualified donations of $250 and above.