Jeremiah Program
Background and Purpose
The Jeremiah Program's (Jeremiah) mission is to help low-income single women with children under the age of four move from economic dependency to economic self-sufficiency through access to education, employment and improved life skills. Jeremiah was established in 1993 as a result of a broad-based community initiative in Minneapolis. Jeremiah opened its doors to serve families in 1997 and provides life skills training with intensive individual coaching to its residents on the Jeremiah Community Campus.
Applicants are screened to ensure they are fully prepared to enter the rigorous program and are required to complete a 16-week empowerment training course prior to admission. Residents must enroll in school, work part-time, attend weekly Life Skills workshops and work with a coach on goal setting. Children of participants are enrolled at the on-site child development center. Residents are expected to develop their skills in a range of areas including financial management, health (physical, emotional, and sexual), career development, healthy relationships, and parenting. The goal is that by graduation women will secure employment that pays a minimum of $12/hour with benefits.
Residents pay one third of their income toward rent and may continue to reside on the Jeremiah Campus for six months after graduation from their school or job program provided they maintain employment. Residents typically live on campus for up to 2 ½ years. In 2003, Jeremiah was approached by leaders of Saint Paul's faith-based and civic communities to open a Saint Paul Campus. In response to this request the Jeremiah Board of Trustees moved forward with plans to open and operate a campus in Saint Paul. The campus opened in the fall of 2007, providing housing and training to 38 women and their children.
Current Request
Jeremiah is requesting funds to expand its development department to meet its increased private philanthropy goals. In 2007 Jeremiah's annual fundraising goal was $1.7 million to help support 12 months of operation of its Minneapolis program and four months of its Saint Paul Campus. The 2008 fundraising goal is $3 million to operate both campuses. To increase its organizational capacity Jeremiah needs to add two additional positions to its development department which currently includes only one staff position, the Development Director.
The goal is to add a Director of Major Gifts and an Annual Fund Officer. With the addition of these two positions Jeremiah's board and management believe that the organization will be able to meet its goal of helping women become self-sufficient. The Executive Director, Development Director and board have put together a long-term fundraising strategy and the needed infrastructure to make good use of the two new positions.