There is an acute and widespread need in Wyoming for programs that help low-income single mothers and their families move out of poverty.  Almost half of Wyoming families living in poverty are headed by single mothers. Within this population, there is a high degree of substance abuse, mental health disorders, family violence, child behavior problems, use of foster care and legal challenges.  All of these factors make this population one of the most at-risk and difficult to reach.

Successfully moving this target population out of poverty takes much more than job training; the research-based CLIMB Wyoming Programs are comprehensive and provide numerous support services in addition to job training.  The CLIMB Wyoming Program Model incorporates not only the components necessary to help low-income single mothers move toward self-sufficiency through job training and placement, but also incorporates services that extend well beyond these job-related components.  CLIMB Wyoming has helped more than 1,200 women move toward economic self-sufficiency since its establishment in 1986.

CLIMB Wyoming was established in 1986 in Wyoming and now has six sites across the state, in Casper, Cheyenne, Gillette, Jackson, Laramie, and Rock Springs.  The research-based model has helped single mothers achieve and maintain self-sufficiency for nearly 25 years.  Founded under the name of the Fleming Young Parent Program and focused on single mothers ages 16-21, when the organization received a one-year Temporary Assistance for Needy Family bonus grant from Wyoming to expand its model across the state, the name was changed to CLIMB Wyoming and its services were expanded to serve low-income parenting single mothers of all ages.  During this same year, the non-profit Our Families Our Future was established to adminster the CLIMB programs across Wyoming.  Our Families Our Future changed its name to CLIMB Wyoming in 2007. 

A grant from OPF would be used to pay for the comprehensive training and support that the women in the program receive to help prepare them for self-sufficiency.  These low-income single mothers will receive the following services:  job skills and work readiness training to develop the skills necessary for them to maintain long-term careers; life skills trainings to meet the specific needs of the participants; comprehensive mental health services including individual and group counseling; job placement in high-paying careers; and on-going support to support both their success in the workplace and their family stability.   

According to the 2009 990, CLIMB had total revenues of $2.7 million and expenditures of $2.5 million.  The year-end balance as of 2010 was 1.7 million.  (reflecting strategic budgetary planning as a result of the recession).

CLIMB Wyoming has 27 full-time and 3 part-time staff. 

CLIMB Wyoming uses a research-based system to identify single mothers who need help to better provide for their families and to achieve self-sufficiency, provides training in a field that has committed to hiring the CLIMB graduates, and gives job, parenting, and lifeskills training to these young women.  CLIMB helps women in an extremely rural state to provide for their families, lift their children out of poverty, and end their dependence on state and non-profit assistance.  Two years after graduating from the program CLIMB’s women have tripled their income. 

What sets CLIMB apart is its experience.  Most states are just implementing programs like this now.  This model is cutting edge:  they go and find the women in the community who need their help, ensuring that it is not only those who ask, but those who need, who receive the training and support.  Every woman who participates in CLIMB is guaranteed a job at the end of the program.  This is an extraordinary program doing important work in a state in which it is particularly difficult to rise out of poverty.  

Don Wood:  I nominated Climb Wyoming for the 2011 Poverty Cycle because I truly believe their work makes a difference. Climb seeks out single mothers and trains them in non-traditional careers, but the program goes beyond simple training and helps these women change their lives. This multifaceted approach is innovative and highly effective. We as partners are always looking for an organization that thinks outside the box in coming up with solutions for our cycle categories and I feel that Climb embodies this. I hope that the partnership agrees with me and that we can provide them with a grant this cycle.