ITHACA, N.Y. –– The Women’s Opportunity Center, a non-profit organization that provides free services to women seeking employment, has received back funding from the New York State Displaced Homemaker Program at a 21 percent reduction. Funds from the New York State Department of Labor ceased in March, forcing the center to lay off staff members in order to save on operational costs.
The State Department of Labor, which sponsors workforce development services for women through the Displaced Homemaker Program, is compensating the center with $80,160 for the remainder of the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Ryan Harriott, the executive director of the Women’s Opportunity Center, said the money will go towards the center’s overall budget.
“I think that most non-profits that have depended on New York State are going to be in the same boat as us,” Harriott said. “We are very fortunate that we do have small savings, but the choice was either take our savings out and spend it in nine months, or start making some rational decisions to save the Women’s Opportunity Center.”
The Women’s Opportunity Center supports disadvantaged women in Tompkins and Onondaga Counties through employment skills training, individualized coaching, financial literacy, computer literacy, health and wellness coaching, and professional dressing. Last year, 61 of the 110 women who received job readiness training at the center attained employment.
“This center is not about measuring outcomes by numbers; we strive to accomplish measurements by forming relationships and working 1:1 with the women individually,” Harriott said. “We allow them to use the Women’s Opportunity Center as their safe haven; or a place to have a cup of tea, a listening ear, or a hug.”
Harriott said the center is considering financial alternatives since there is no indication as to when this year’s contract with the Displaced Homemaker Program, which was expected to begin in August, will be renewed.
In a state financial plan update, Robert Mujica, the New York State budget director, said “New York has so far safely re-opened large portions of the economy after curbing the spread of COVID-19, and while we remain vigilant to sustain our re-opening, the pandemic has done more damage to our economy than the Great Recession and is driving a fiscal crisis.”
According to an analysis by the Harvard Business Review, women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic than men’s jobs.
“Women make up 39 percent of global employment but account for 54 percent of overall job losses as of May 2020,” the analysis states. “At the same time, the burden of unpaid care, which has risen in the pandemic, falls disproportionately on women.”
The Women’s Opportunity Center is currently fighting this gender inequality by offering remote services, especially for women who don’t have access to transportation or can’t afford childcare.
“We’ve converted all our training programs online so that we can provide private coaching to our women, and also help prepare them for this new remote workforce,” Harriott said.
“We will continue to serve the women of Tompkins County and seek funding that will help support a bigger playing field of women who could use our services,” Harriott said.
The center is accepting donations online or by mail to 315 N. Tioga St. Ithaca, NY 14850.
Emily Snyder 