Widows constitute a growing segment of the US population yet very little is being done to educate them about personal finance or entrepreneurship. YAS is dedicated to the proposition that financial literacy is the foundation of sustainability and views entrepreneurship as a key to empowerment. Widows are often cast in the role of victim. YAS sees them for what they are – survivors who can break the cycle of poverty and the fears of an uncertain future through education and connection with those who are overcoming these life challenges.
YAS started as a community outreach for the low income in Orange County, Ca and really whoever had a need (and still do) could come and get food no questions asked. It’s hard to believe we had such a need in Orange County, but we did.
Our Work
YAS Thanksgiving Outreach | The Wednesday Weekly Outreach | Eric on how YAS started
Our Story
When my husband passed away, I was faced with widowhood, what to do, how to live life and eventually was able started my own business. I had quite a learning curve. I came out of a marriage raising 7 children and although the church took care of me for a year, was now faced with creating income for myself. I had finance but not every one who faces widowhood does. The fact is if you are working as a widow, you lose 50% of your income but for a lot of us, we lose 100% of our income. Widows are a quiet, invisible and an underserved group. I had no idea of the feelings and situation that widows faced until I became one.
These are the facts on boomer widows:
Our Mission
My goal here is to serve economically disadvantaged widows by providing a small grant to help those who desire to start their own business, receive financial education and a small grant to help in order to sustain a living or be a side business.
For me, this is a journey of faith when I was ready to walk away from another non-profit but through prayer and faith, this is the result, a micro-business and micro-grant program for widows.
YAS recognizes there is a problem. There are many widows in poverty. YAS understands that the labor market should serve to create more opportunities for widows that might have less success but it is not always recognized. However, we also understand that we must remedy certain barriers in order to allow widows to reach this goal.
Learn More
In the meantime, you might like to visit my business website to learn a bit more about me.