In the clubhouse of Colonial Estates in Rancho Cordova, five women celebrated a major life transformation.
They completed the Real Estate Networking Education and Work (RENEW) program, a program designed to provide real estate training for women facing homelessness or housing insecurity in the Greater Sacramento area.
The program began in 2018 and in its 12th session. RENEW was inspired by the REstart program in San Diego, according to Julia Cochran, Executive Director of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM.)
“The goal [is] that they get a job that has housing because a lot of times in the apartment communities, you need an on-site manager,” Cochran said. “So housing is part of the job. We’re trying to achieve both those goals with the same program.”
The graduates had to endure an intense curriculum, including a 100-question test, which they had two chances to pass with a score of at least 80%. Everyone passed on the first try. The program provided the women with food, transportation and laptops.
“I feel good. I’m excited,” Philese Turman, one of the graduates, said. “It’s just like another step towards where I need to be, where I was before.”
IREM provided the women with a certificate for completion, but before they entered the RENEW program, they had to do a nine-week training with Women’s Empowerment.
Turman said she suffered a house fire four years ago, which caused her to be homeless for three years.
“I was at the point where I was just like, broken down and in despair,” she said. “I needed something. So I went through the WE program, the Women’s Empowerment program, and they built me back up.”
Women’s Empowerment is a local nonprofit that works with women and children who are experiencing homelessness. The organization gives them the skills that they need to get a job and career, according to the Executive Director Lisa Culp.
“We do four nine-week programs a year and 16 orientations a year, so that women who are experiencing homelessness can come find out what the program is about, understand what services we offer and then what we expect from them,” Culp said. “Because the timing has to be right for them. They have to be ready to kind of change the course of their life so that they can create a pathway out of homelessness.”
Turman said she already has three appointments next week for property management jobs.
“It just makes you feel like somebody cares, because you get to the point where you feel like nobody does anymore,” she said. “Then you meet people like this, and you realize that there’s people still out there.”
Sierra Pino, another graduate, was a caregiver for 20 years and came to Women’s Empowerment to better her life.
“I felt like the two programs had thrown me a life raft, and I just grabbed onto it and wanted it more than anything,” Pino said. “The impact is amazing. I believe that they believed in me from the very first day, and that meant everything to me.”
Pino said she can’t wait to come back and be a success story for women in the program.
“It just means so much to me that I come back and give back,” she said. “I can’t wait to succeed. I mean, I’ve already succeeded.”
Culp said she’s excited that the program is continuing. She said their job right now is to create several paid job training programs for the women so that they can be competitive in the job and housing market.
Women’s Empowerment has partnerships in solar, construction, and healthcare industries.
“This program works,” she said. “Our community is looking for solutions to ending the trauma of homelessness, and 83% of our women get jobs, and about 82% get into housing. And that’s how we end homelessness; is one woman, one family at a time.”
Keyshawn Davis is a communities reporter at CapRadio. CapRadio is a partner of The Intersection and CVJC.
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