URBAN UNIVERSITY

Established in 1998, urban university (uu), is a 501c3 non-profit organization with the mission to improve the socio-economic status of disenfranchised individuals by delivering workforce development training, coaching and transitional employment opportunities.

Over the past nineteen years, uu has served more than 1,700 individuals with socio-economic barriers for successful entry into the workforce - including single mothers transitioning from public assistance, former foster care youth seeking stability, low-wage workers striving for upward mobility, and ex-offenders reintegrating into the labor force through the following programs:

o Oakland Green Jobs Re-entry Initiative sponsored by the City of Oakland Community Development Agency in partnership with Laney Community College and Civicorps,
o Oakland Green Jobs Corps in partnership with Laney Community College;
o LIFT Program sponsored by the City and County of San Francisco in partnership with City College of San Francisco and 50 Early Child Education employers
o Veteran’s Employment Action Program sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric in partnership with Growth Sector and Community College of San Francisco;
o Waterways Pluming Training Program sponsored by EBMUD in collaboration with Laney College and the
o Legal Employment Action Program (LEAP) in partnership with the Bar Association of San Francisco and Jewish Vocational Services.

In 2009, uu combined its expertise in workforce development training and coaching with transitional employment opportunities and launched urban furniture and boutique, a social enterprise that is used as a platform to deliver Single Moms at Work (SMAW), on-the-job training for single mothers transitioning from public assistance into employment in the private sector. This new launch shifted uu's focus to one of the county’s most vulnerable population groups – single mothers living in poverty. Our goal is to become a 'beacon of light' for single mothers.

The single mothers who qualify for our programs usually earn far short of what they would need to meet their families’ basic needs, based on the Insight Center for Community Economic Development’s Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard. The “Self-Sufficiency Standard” measures how much income is needed for a family of a given composition, in a given place to adequately meet its basic needs without any public or private assistance. In 2016, a single parent with 1 infant (0 - 2 years) residing in Alameda County would require an annual income of $60,383 (i.e., $28.59/hour) to cover all of the family’s basic expenses - housing, food, child care, health care and transportation, without public assistance. In comparison, an individual working a full-time minimum wage job in California would earn an annual income of $26,141 (i.e., $12.55/hour); due to their employment barriers, the single moms who qualify for our programs usually find it challenging to secure even minimum wage employment. The Single Moms at Work Program offered through our social enterprise - is a critical solution that addresses women raising families in poverty.

Located in the heart of Oakland with the Lakeshore/Grand Avenue Business District of Oakland, urban furniture and boutique hosts the Single Moms at Work, which is delivered in partnership with the Alameda County Social Services Agency. The mission of SMAW is to help single mothers move from public assistance and economic dependency to self-sufficiency through transitional employment, professional development, and individual coaching.

As a participant, over a course of six to twelve months, single mothers benefit from:
- More than 1,000 hours of retail and customer service skills & technologies training,
- Contextualized math and computer skills,
- E-commerce platform sales training
- Individualized coaching designed specifically to address the personal and professional challenges uniquely faced by low-income mothers,
- A professional resume and mock interviews,
- Interviews at partner employers in the private and public sectors,
- Ongoing employment retention coaching.

Over the past 8 years, uu has helped 25 single parents transition from public assistance into gainful employment with a 35% success rate of participants obtaining a living wage with full benefits.

In a recent Commendation, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors applauded urban furniture and boutique’s “ability to provide jobs that allow residents to become self-sufficient and responsible contributors to our communities.” urban furniture and boutique also assists low-income members of the community by donating clothing, furniture, and household goods, to shelter residents and small nonprofits that feed and clothe the homeless.

In addition to our social enterprise, we received the recent donation of a lease to a single family house. With this gracious donation, we launched - urban house, transitional housing for single parents. As we work towards our bright future, we understand that a holistic solution is required to address the complex issues faced by single mothers. urban university's future is bright as it scales to create an ecosystem that includes job creation, skills training, housing and support.