Women’s History Month at CCC: Looking Forward

Welcome to our 4th and final week of our Women’s History Month series.  March is Women’s History Month, commemorating the vital contributions women make to history, culture and society. To celebrate, we’re honoring some of the amazing women who have worked with CCC for 12 years or longer. Some of these women have worked at CCC more than 25 years! We thought you’d like to get to know them a little better. We posed a series of questions to them about their early days at CCC, favorite memories, and more. Each week, we’ll share one or more of the questions we asked along with our participants’ answers. 

This week, we asked the women to look forward to share their hopes for the future of CCC. We also asked what advice they would give to women entering the nonprofit sector. 

What advice would you give to young women entering the nonprofit sector? 

Linda Hudson: My advice is to build a strong village to support you as you do this hard work; be intentional about nurturing your village because you never know when you’ll need them; be mindful to take care of your own mental health; take time off and finally, share what you learn with others. Pay it forward!! 

Vivian Lackey: To women who want to enter the nonprofit sector, you are so needed in this work if this is where your heart is! Do not give up, keep knocking on doors if this is what you want to do the right door will open. You may have to get your foot in the door but if you care about the work and do a good job, know that you will be recognized by someone, and opportunities will be presented. Ask yourself what you are passionate about then go for it! Life experience, transferable skills and deciding what work you thrive in is a good way to design a plan and do what you need to get there. I enjoy giving motivational talks to anyone wanting to work at CCC. I’m also trained in career planning to help people find their gifts, talents and capacities. That is what we do at the Employment Access Center. We know that if people work in an environment that has an element of something they are passionate about then job retention happens. I am a living testament to that! 

Maria Rivera-Moodt:  It can be challenging at times, but it is all worth it when everything is said and done and you won’t be bored. 

E.V. Armitage: You can make a difference in any number of ways by working for a nonprofit, and there are a wide range of roles in the nonprofit realm. Ask yourself: What do you truly love to do?  Where does your passion lie? What are your strengths? What can you bring from your life and work experience and what do you want to learn?   

What are your hopes for the future of CCC? 

Linda Hudson: My hopes for the future of CCC are to become that agency that’s not scared to take risks and make societal and organizational change through our work and advocacy or whatever it takes to bring about equity for all people. 

Vivian Lackey: I hope that CCC can keep doing what we already do so well and keep an eye on doing it with quality. I appreciate new technology, remote work options we have implemented, and finding ways to work smarter so we have more time for our clients without feeling hurried. I also hope we can pass on what CCC has done to other nonprofit agencies and programs across the nation. We are so good at what we do I would love to see us share that and change how homeless and at-risk populations can be helped. Housing, health, recovery and jobs! 

Maria Rivera-Moodt: My hopes for CCC are to keep growing, keep doing what we do best and value the people that continue to show up and strive to make things better for all. 

E.V. Armitage: I have seen CCC grow and change enormously during my time here, but I believe that the core of CCC’s success has not changed: CCC’s mission is still at the heart of what we do, and many amazing people work here every day to carry out that mission. We have all struggled during the last two pandemic years, but I’m proud that CCC has kept programs open to serve people and kept staff and clients safe. There is a lot of exciting and important work happening these days focusing on how to better meet the needs of CCC’s clients and residents, and how to make CCC a better place for staff. I hope this work continues to make what we do even better.