A Year of Impact Created by You

At the start of every year, Women’s Bean Project has many visions for what the new year will bring, but we never know how the year will unfold. Thanks to you and your support, we can proudly say the many visions and goals we had for 2018 were achieved and even exceeded. Your donations, volunteering, and purchases made 2018 a year full of achievements and new beginnings.

Here are just a few highlights from the year that demonstrate the impact of your support:

• Our new website launched, making it easier than ever to shop our products online
• Twice as many grocery stores carry our products than years past (including Whole Foods)
• 26 new members joined the Jossy Eyre Society for major donors
• Women’s Bean Project secured enough funding to streamline production and increase efficiencies

But as a social enterprise, that’s just one piece of our story. The business side of Women’s Bean Project had some major successes in 2018, but many women in the program achieved things they never thought would be possible:

• ChyRonda, Sara, and Miranda all earned their GED
• Lori, Sara, Jeanette, and Claudia transitioned into full-time employment. All their employers have contacted Women’s Bean Project to share how impressed they are with the caliber of each Women’s Bean graduate
• Katie, Linda, and Miranda gained the skills needed to secure housing
• Keri regained custody of her children
• Twelve women received free eye exams and glasses from Vista Eye Care
• Twenty-five women received free or reduced dental care, and
• One hundred percent of the women who graduated secured full-time, career-building jobs

The women who go through Women’s Bean Project’s program earn much more than a paycheck. They gain skills to create a better life for themselves and their families, they feel empowered and supported, and they learn how to use these opportunities to transform the rest of their lives. We could not be prouder of the successes each woman achieved in 2018!

Yet, these major accomplishments are just a glimpse of an entire year’s work at Women’s Bean Project. And none of them would be possible without you and all the ways you support the Bean. Your purchases, donations, and volunteered time create the resources necessary to hire chronically unemployed woman and run our program.

This year, we’re celebrating Women’s Bean Project’s 30th Anniversary! We can’t wait to see what 2019 will bring as we create together more stepping stones toward self-sufficiency through social enterprise. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support of our work and mission. Here’s to 2019!

Check out the impact you helped make in 2018 in the Women’s Bean Project Year in Review video.

Written by Mary Bates, WBP marketing intern