WOMEN OF COLORS
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Mission Statement
Promoted diversity, equity, and inclusiveness for the empowerment of families by providing prevention services to strengthen families and enhance community relations in the Great Lakes Bay Region and beyond.
About This Cause
Women of Colors (WOC) is a grassroot and an independent not-for-profit organization that has been an active community partner with uninterrupted services since inception in 1993. The organization was developed by a diverse group of women from different backgrounds sharing ideas to improve the Saginaw community. We recognize the strength of diversity by not focusing on our differences but acknowledging our similarities. WOC has a passion to serve and engage the community in health and wellness. Due to WOC’s engagement within the community, we have earned community trust. WOC is dedicated to increasing public awareness of substance abuse prevention services and other public health issues by forming partnerships and collaborating with other agencies and organizations dedicated to the public health and the well-being of the Saginaw community. Women of Colors offers programs that annually reach over 12,000 community members and 700 minors. WOC has an extensive track record of involvement in the community that includes a broad spectrum of programmatic and volunteer services. These projects and initiatives include: WOC has specific experience as it pertains to places of our priority emphasis on helping youth and adults learn the benefits of adopting a lifestyle free of drugs and alcohol and other unforeseen barriers that could prevent them from becoming productive citizens. WOC’s objective is to change behaviors and improve prosocial skills and problem-solving through evidence-based training programs. The organization is approved and licensed by the State of Michigan for Substance Use Disorder Services with certified professional instructors that are carefully trained to create an atmosphere that makes it safe for participants to openly explore and inwardly examine how their choices are affecting their lives. WOC host community forums on WOC's and Alpha Media Facebook pages and five radio stations that serve to highlight a range of themes aimed at helping vulnerable and abused residents to move past their personal traumas that include the forums below: • I AM STILL A MAN – A community adult male forum with community leaders and partners to help identify substance use, mental health, incarceration, and various abuse trends among vulnerable populations in Saginaw County. • HOW I OVERCAME – A panel of women sharing their personal experiences of how they overcame life challenges to become successful individuals. These forums target ways to improve the quality of behavioral health practices and increase opportunities to maintain wellness for children and families. • TIME TO HAVE A CONVERSATION – Addresses racial injustice, criminal reform, suicide, domestic violence, behavior health, and other existing disparities. • YOUR VOICE YOUR CHOICE – Educational forum structured for middle/high school students • HOPE IS REAL DOCUMENTARY – Women of Colors created a documentary “Hope Is Real” about two diverse local families sharing their stories of how they overcame drug addiction problems. Part I of the documentary targets middle and high school students while Part II of the documentary gives parents tips for children suspected of drug use. The documentary is shown at various schools and other venues. Warm A Child For Winter: This initiative consists of the distribution of over 4,200 winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves, books and much more donated to children in need. Over a 17-year period, WOC has counseled and mentored residents at the Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center to give them hope and encourage them to make better choices in life. The organization also works to provide an opportunity for training, employment and ongoing support once the residents are released from the center. Aid assigned probation officials when mandated by the Juvenile Court System to complete an 8-week evidence-based program with the WOC Prevention Team. In 2021, WOC was awarded a grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund for the Racial Disparities in Behavioral Health Care Project. WOC partnered with community stakeholders to facilitate and conduct one-on-one interviews, listening sessions, and surveys on lived experiences of African Americans less likely to receive follow-up care in behavior healthcare services than any other population in Saginaw County. The findings of this study are used to inform healthcare providers and lawmakers on the necessary steps to initiate and direct necessary changes in the behavioral healthcare in Saginaw. This study was the first of its kind in the Saginaw community. Based on the findings in 2024, we have expanded the program with the implementation of Project ASSERT (A Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment), by increasing the number of wellness advocates and peer support specialists at both MyMichigan Health and Saginaw County Community Mental Health Authority. WOC will enhance access to critical support for individuals seeking assistance with substance use recovery and prevention. This initiative will strengthen our collaboration with healthcare partners and mental health agencies to provide comprehensive, community-based care. Student and Future Technology (SaFT)/Saginaw Youth Robotic Academy Program (SYRA). This initiative aims to improve students understanding and improving current knowledge of science and math concepts. Through community partnerships, we are able to mentor over 100 low-income students per year. Student performance and growth is measured by the rate at which each student satisfactorily accomplishes the project-based learning tasks. This data over the first three years of the SaFT program indicates students achieved a 90 percent success rate and were able to advance one level for every six class sessions. STRONGER TOGETHER WOC provides an addiction support group for family and friends of people struggling with addiction. Where people can find compassion, support, and healing by talking with others in similar circumstances. We work from a life of despair to a life of hope and purpose. The meetings are held the first and third Tuesday of each month. The Family Car WOC partnered with Earthen Vessels of Color Productions, LLC (EVOC) in 2023 to bring the heartfelt stage play. The play was about real-life stories focused on mental health in the black community in our city. We wanted to break the mental health stigma to help people learn new and healthy ways to cope with loss and grief. Teach how grief can be acknowledged with support systems of professional counseling, family, and friends. The Temple Theatre production was truly the story of our village/community with over 1,200 people in attendance. Women of Colors makes a difference one day, one goal, one person at a time.