NEW PATHS TO
ACHIEVEMENT
The New Paths to Achievement Program addresses the need for education and
job skills training to aid low-income, single head-of-household females in
gaining independence.
The Program prepares economically disadvantaged women to become
financially independent by boosting their self-esteem and giving them
specific employment-seeking skills to help them reenter the workforce.
Personal skills include assertiveness, parenting, self-confidence,
dealing with cultural differences and stereotypes, domestic violence, stress
management, and anger management. Vocational skills include interviewing, preparing a resume, filling out an
application, looking for and maintaining a job.
Participants come to the program through their connection with a church,
social service agency, drug program, vocational program, homeless shelter,
or through the Suffolk County Department of Labor. For most participants,
one of the most valuable aspects of the New Paths to Achievement Program is
the sharing of feelings and experiences with others who have the enormous
stress of difficult lives and troubled pasts. Validating each other's
experiences and concentrating on their strengths rather than their problems
give New Paths to Achievement graduates a tremendous boost on the road to
independence.
