Veronika Scott was always told that her organization would fail. As a product design student at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Scott created The Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit dedicated to providing jobs for women experiencing homelessness as well as cold-weather protective gear for people living on the streets.
Critics told her that her idea would never work — not because she had no business experience, but, rather, because “the homeless women she hired would be worthless.” Scott and the wonderful women working for her proved them all wrong.
In the bitter Detroit winter, the homeless need protection. And when Detroit shelters are too overwhelmed to provide it, the women of The Empowerment Plan do. The organization hires women from local homeless shelters and pays them to produce coats that transform into sleeping bags. The versatile items are then distributed to the homeless for free.
The goal of the organization is to help women and their families break out of the cycle of homelessness and provide comfort against the elements for those who are still experiencing it. The organization is backed by an experienced staff with diverse skills, as well as a board of directors. But the project would be nothing without the bright-eyed, hardworking seamstresses who are simultaneously helping the homeless and themselves.
The Empowerment Plan has been featured in major news outlets, such as The New York Times, CNN, and Forbes.
