HER Triple Crown Academy
What is the Triple Crown Academy?
It’s the first of its kind workforce development program specially for women. It considers the needs of the whole woman to the benefit of the building trades and our economy, as well as the healing of each woman.
What is the Triple Crown Academy?
It’s the first of its kind workforce development program specially for women. It considers the needs of the whole woman to the benefit of the building trades and our economy, as well as the healing of each woman.
How the Triple Crown Academy works
Without education, living-wage jobs are scarce. Without housing, stability is impossible. Without reliable transportation, getting to work won’t happen. Without childcare, young single moms cannot work. Without consistent support, trauma survivors struggle to show up consistently.
The goal of the program is to provide young women more positive choices and opportunities through a trauma-informed economic empowerment program. Participants of each cohort will:
- Complete an 8 week general construction pre-apprenticeship with on the job training
- Gain the soft skills to maintain employment
- Access therapeutic care to reduce trauma responses that can result in loss of employment
- Utilize one-to-one support (case management) and employment coaching for long-term success
- Work with a money management coach for financial literacy
- Enroll in a union apprenticeship program after completing the Triple Crown Academy’s pre-apprenticeship
Ultimately, the crown jewel of the Triple Crown Academy will be to offer stable housing with childcare for participants in the program. We will provide updates on this jewel of the program as it becomes available.
We support young women everyday that are still in the process of building their resilience and need more than a job. They need wraparound support to sustain employment, including stable housing and childcare.
In less than 12-months, HER Resiliency Center’s Founder & President, Natasha Guynes, successfully garnered the formal support for the Triple Crown Academy from labor organizations such as the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, the Mid-Atlantic Carpenters Training Center, Carpenters Local 197 and Carpenters Local 491, Millwrights of The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters West Va. Local 219, International Brotherhood of Electrical Worker Local 24, Heat and Frost Insulators & Allied Workers, and the Baltimore-Washington Building Trades Council. In April 2024, HER Resiliency Center hosted our Empower HER Fundraiser in which five of these partners were sponsors of the event where we introduced this new program to the community.
Why The Triple Crown Academy?
Gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and sex trafficking, is about power and control. As a result, women living in poverty, without resources that can either enable choices or provide bargaining power, are at a much greater likelihood of being victimized through violent crimes. They often feel trapped, particularly young adult women with young children.
While this reality is staggering, there is hope. A number of studies have shown that the power dynamics that lead to intimate partner violence can be reversed. When a woman’s income increases, the partner violence against her decreases.[1] When women have control over their income, they are more likely to invest in the wellbeing of their children, which can work to interrupt the cycle of poverty and violence.[2] To build resiliency and step out of a life of poverty and trauma requires a comprehensive, holistic approach.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4019993/
[2] https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work/programs/gender-equality/womens-economic-power
Why The Triple Crown Academy?
Gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, and sex trafficking, is about power and control. As a result, women living in poverty, without resources that can either enable choices or provide bargaining power, are at a much greater likelihood of being victimized through violent crimes. They often feel trapped, particularly young adult women with young children.
While this reality is staggering, there is hope. A number of studies have shown that the power dynamics that lead to intimate partner violence can be reversed. When a woman’s income increases, the partner violence against her decreases.[1] When women have control over their income, they are more likely to invest in the wellbeing of their children, which can work to interrupt the cycle of poverty and violence.[2] To build resiliency and step out of a life of poverty and trauma requires a comprehensive, holistic approach.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4019993/
[2] https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work/programs/gender-equality/womens-economic-power
Happening Now
On Monday, October 28, we celebrated the completion of Cohort #1’s pre-apprenticeship program with a special celebration featuring guest speaker Jennifer Kasman.
Here are just a few things the fellows completed over the last 8 weeks in the pre-apprenticeship program:
- OSHA 10 certified
- Set up and broke down 3 trade shows: Comic-Con, Astro, AUSA
- Learned the back end of the trade show industry while working in the warehouses receiving and loading inventory for shows.
- Built a team amongst each other, and members of 491 Carpentry Local
- Applied for the apprenticeship program with the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters
- Started financial wellness coaching with APG Federal Credit Union
- Established accountability and being prepared and on time
- Built community within the cohort that comes with being mindful of each others boundaries and feelings.
- Received constructive feedback including redirection on those “bad days,” we all have from time to time
- Identified their internal strengths often marked by their adaptability, resolve, and resilience
And This is only the start! There’s more to come though with our 18-month workforce development program. We’re formally moving into our 5 section 32 class workshop series, “Getting & Keeping a Job” (soft skills).
Stay tuned on the journey of Cohort #1 by following us on Facebook and Instagram!
The Future: Transitional Housing
In order to best serve the whole woman and her long-term success, we have incorporated transitional housing into this model. This is to help participants move past crisis and survival mode and become fully economically empowered. Provision of stable transitional housing is a key aspect of the Triple Crown Academy. Much like all good things, transitional housing will take longer to set up. The goal is for women participating in the Academy to live onsite – consider a small college – for the first 12 to 18 months of their journey through the program. This time will provide a stable environment to complete the pre-apprenticeship and the early part of the full apprenticeship.
FAQs
- Are there age requirements for enrolling in the Triple Crown Academy?
Yes. The Academy is designed specifically for women 18 to 29 years old. - How long is the Triple Crown Academy?
18 months. Participants are encouraged to maintain engagement between 12-18 months for the best outcomes. - How long is the Triple Crown Academy’s pre-apprenticeship? Why is the program so long?
8 weeks. The pre-apprenticeship training is only part of the Triple Crown Academy. - Will I be able to pick and choose which parts of the Triple Crown Academy I want to participate in?
No. The Academy comes with a full curriculum the same as any other educational program. - Is it true that employment is connected to my participation in the Triple Crown Academy?
Yes. As part of the Academy, we have secured commitments from union employers to hire participants after the completion of their second pre-apprenticeship class. The average hourly rate is $20 with a commitment of 20 to 25 hours a week. - Do I need to have a high school diploma or GED to be eligible for the Triple Crown Academy?
No. However, obtaining a GED, or high school diploma will be strongly encouraged and supported as part of a participant’s goal plan. - Does a criminal record prevent my participation in the Triple Crown Academy’s pre-apprenticeship program?
No. However, depending on the type of history, there could be limitations to job sites. - Will there be transportation assistance?
Yes. - Marijuana is legalized in the State of Maryland, do I still have to pass a drug test?
Yes. - What do you expect of participants?
We ask that all participants show up dedicated to their own future. There is no financial cost for participation.
Special thanks to Milwaukee Tool for contributing wonderful tool packs to HER Triple Crown Academy and to Dewalt for offering a generous grant for the program.
Who is HER Resiliency Center?
HER Resiliency Center (HER) works in the Baltimore and Washington, DC area with young women ages 18-25 who have experienced a variety of hardships, including gender-based violence, poverty, and exploitation resulting from an imbalance of power and control.
Join the movement. Support young women to finding their economic empowerment!!