Posted 9:48 pm Sunday, January 29, 2012
Henderson Group Celebrates 10 Years
Local women helping local women -- that's what Christian Women's Job Corps of Rusk County does.
The nonprofit organization is gearing up to celebrate its 10th anniversary of providing basic life and job readiness skills training classes to equip women to enter the workforce.
Christie Gambrell, 63, has been the organization's director since its inception 10 years ago.
Shortly after she and her family moved to Henderson, she learned a group of local women were trying to organize a Christian Women's Job Corps in Rusk County but no one would agree to be the director.
She was asked to help get the organization started and agreed to do it for one year.
"I'm still here," she said. "It kind of hooked me in."
Mrs. Gambrell grew up in Georgia, where her father was a pastor, and her parents moved to Henderson after she graduated high school. She moved on to Carson-Newman College in East Tennessee, where she earned a degree in elementary education, and earned a master's degree in educational administration at Columbia College in South Carolina.
She worked as a public school teacher for six years and as a Christian school administrator for 20 years before moving to Henderson. Mrs. Gambrell and her husband Charlie, a middle school teacher, have been married 38 years and have two children.
SUPPORT SYSTEM
Mrs. Gambrell said the main thing the Job Corps does is give women a support system; giving them someone to talk to and show them someone cares.
She has seen women they have helped get better jobs, earn their GED, learn English to better communicate with their children's teachers and doctors and become better mothers. She said they educate women with nutrition, finance and budgeting through the group's many life courses.
"Many of them have just never had anyone cheering for them," she said. "It's local women helping local women."
Because Rusk County is rural, there is not a whole lot of networking opportunities, Mrs. Gambrell said.
Teaching English as a Second Language classes has become a big program for them, and they also have started teaching life skill classes in Spanish. Christian Women's Job Corps also offers GED courses and literacy tutoring, Mrs. Gambrell said, adding that there is no literacy council in Rusk County.
The Henderson organization also has a crafts shop inside its building. Gift items such as jewelry, framed hymns and scriptures and wreaths are available for sale and the proceeds for each item goes to the woman who made it, she said.
Christian Women's Job Corps of Rusk County uses about 100 volunteers a year, including women who help get them through the day by bringing lunches for women taking the all-day classes. Mrs. Gambrell said they are still trying to tabulate how many women the organization has helped throughout the years.
The group also is working with Sunshine Light to start a women's shelter in New London, Mrs. Gambrell said. A board of directors has been formed, 501c3 status gained and an energy grant obtained to replace heating and air conditioning units of a large facility that used to be a nursing home. She said Lowe's in Henderson, Marshall and Longview have pledged to redo the plumbing in the building's 14 bathrooms.
Mrs. Gambrell said at least 40 women, plus children, will be able to be housed at the shelter, which also will include a learning center.
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On March 4, the Christian Women's Job Corps of Rusk County will host a 10-year anniversary celebration at the First Baptist Church in Henderson.
At 5 p.m., the church is sponsoring a spaghetti supper for a $5 donation to go to the Job Corps.
At 6:30 p.m., the anniversary celebration will be held in the church's sanctuary and will include women sharing their stories and experiences of the Job Corps, special music and a slide show presentation of the organization through the years. No reservations are required.
Mrs. Gambrell said they are trying to get as many local pastors as possible to bring their congregations to the event.
"We've probably served women from just about every church in town," she said.
Although Mrs. Gambrell agreed on working for the Christian Women's Job Corps for only one year, after 10 years she has no plans of giving it up anytime soon.
"They've got me hooked," she said.
Christian Women's Job Corps of Rusk County is at 210 N. Sioux St. in Henderson. For more information, call 903-655-1684 or visit www.cwjcofruskcounty.org.
If you know of a professional woman or business service in the Tyler area you think should be highlighted in this column, contact me at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.
