TROY>> A local program that prepares women for the working world got a grant to enhance its offerings in the future.

The YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, Inc. received a $10,000 grant through the  from the KeyBank Foundation to expand its Jamison-Rounds Ready for Work Program.

The grant award will be used to expand the YWCA-GCR’s Jamison-Rounds Ready for Work program, which

has operated for seven years and seen more than 140 women successfully complete this intensive twelve-week job readiness training.

The JR-RFW Program was developed to address a variety of barriers that women face when seeking gainful employment. These barriers include but are not limited to low educational levels, lack of employment history, sporadic employment history, substance abuse, mental illness and domestic violence.

There are three 12-week sessions per year. Each session begins with approximately twelve participants and on average, eight women successfully complete each session.

This job readiness program provides residents of the YWCA-GCR and Rensselaer County residents with 55 hours of on-site work experience as well as workshops and trainings provided by program staff as well as numerous collaborators.

The program’s goal is to provide women with the skills and support they need in order to obtain and maintain permanent employment and/or to advance their education.

“The money from KeyBank will allow for the enhancement of the Jamison-Rounds Ready for Work Employment Training Coordinator position,” said Bonnie Benson, director of housing and supportive programs at YWCA-GCR, in a press release. “This enhancement will allow for more time to be spent building relationships with employers and providing more intensive one-on-one case management and follow-up, which is crucial to the success of our graduates.”

Ruth Mahoney, president of KeyBank’s Capital Region said “Key encourages people and communities to achieve economic self-sufficiency through strategic philanthropic investment in financial education and workforce development programs. This donation will help strengthen the quality of the Jamison-Rounds Ready for Work Program and provide our region’s women with greater access to valuable resources that can help them develop the skills needed to become thriving, economically self-sufficient contributors to the community.”

In addition to the Ready for Work Program, the YWCA-GCR is one of the area’s largest providers of supportive transitional and permanent housing to both homeless single women and women with children. Supportive housing has been proven to be the most effective method of reducing homelessness when coupled with supportive services that target specific needs. The organization provides 94 on-site supportive housing units and ten family apartments scattered throughout the community.

For more information on the YWCA-GCR visit www.ywca-gcr.org or www.facebook.com/ywca.gcr.