SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Evangel University’s Enactus team has been awarded a $1,500 Walmart Women’s Economic Empowerment Project Partnership grant.
This grant will be used to help Harmony House develop formal job preparedness and soft skill development programs for the women they assist. Harmony House provides shelter, advocacy and education to survivors of domestic violence.
Evangel’s Enactus team will be collaborating with a project team from Missouri State University that also received a similar Walmart grant.
“We are excited to have this opportunity to work with the leadership at Harmony House and with the MSU team on this project,” said Cassie DeClerc, a senior from Green Bay, Wisc.
DeClerc will be leading Evangel’s project team and simultaneously serving as an intern with Harmony House during the spring semester as part of her nonprofit business & social enterprise major.
“The Evangel and MSU teams will help us plan and implement a sustainable employment-readiness program that will provide additional skills, opportunities, motivation and encouragement for the women we serve,” said Lisa Farmer, Harmony House executive director. “This will help them to be successful and able to live their lives free from abuse.”
Enactus (formerly SIFE) projects
Walmart provides up to 100 grants through its Women’s Economic Empowerment Project Partnership with Enactus. In addition to receiving project grants, participating teams will compete for National Grand Prize Awards, which recognize and reward the most successful projects when judged in March 2015.
“This is one of seven significant projects that the Evangel Enactus team has developed for this year,” said Bernie Dana, chair of the Evangel Department of Business.
Dana explained that the team’s initiatives include the following:
- a community development project with Convoy of Hope
- a coffee house marketing project with Aladdin Food Service
- a small business marketing program with a start-up internet provider
- a social enterprise development with several retail stores
- an economic development project in Swaziland
- a recycle improvement project in the Evangel academic complex
Enactus (formerly known as Students in Free Enterprise) is a corporately sponsored, international non-profit organization that brings together student, academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.
Guided by academic advisors and business experts, the student leaders of Enactus create and implement community empowerment projects around the globe.
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