FAQs

PDCF Charitable Fund Partnering Organization: Nia Imani

Who is Nia Imani?

• Nia Imani is a Swahili term which Nia means purpose, and Imani means faith, two of the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
• A 501c3, nonprofit organization that was established in 1994.
• To date has served over 400 women
• Milwaukee’s only long-term (up to 24 months) transitional housing facility for women and children.
• Provides comprehensive services and a holistic approach to supporting homeless young and pregnant mothers and their children.
• Teach the women in their program independent living skills, parenting skills, life planning, job training, nutrition and meal preparation, computer training, financial management, and trauma informed care training.
• Their facility has the capacity to support up to 17 women and their children at a time.
• Has six employees and 20 volunteers.

Who are Nia Imani Program Participants?

• Women ages 18-25 with children under the age of 5.
• Pregnant or young mothers primarily in Milwaukee County.
• Women who are working to overcome childhood trauma, chronic homelessness, violence and sexual abuse, unemployment, mental health issues, and educational and job training deficiencies.

Why did PDCF Choose Nia Imani?

• Small, locally-based organization that will benefit significantly from Professional Dimensions’ (PD) support.
• Strong history and track record of successful outcomes for the women and children they serve.
• Great continuation of the work we just finished with The Ripple Effect, and it perfectly aligns with our mission at PD to support women and girls and to help them become self-sufficient.

How will Nia Imani use the Funds they will Receive from PD in the next 2 years?

• Nia Imani will use the funds from PD to enhance Muhindi, the name of its parenting education program that features an evidence-based parenting curriculum.
• Muhindi is Swahili and means the ears of corn, representing the children of the stalk.
• Work more closely with the children on their skills and provide them with trauma-informed care, while their moms are learning, too.
• Add to Muhindi one-on-one instruction for moms based on their parenting and nurturing goals.
• Add to Muhindi prepared assessments, lessons and activities, and parenting life skills groups.

How will success be measured?

• We will use pre and post surveys to evaluate the progress of the children and the moms’ understanding of their parenting/child’s development.
• The scale indicators are from a longer assessment (Massachusetts scales and ladders for independence and self-sufficiency) with many scales, but the two we will measure for this project are 1) children’s education and literacy, and 2) youth and family development scales.

What are the program goals?

• 100% of moms will increase their children’s education and literacy scale indicators.
• 100% of mom’s will increase their youth and family development scale indicators.

Why does Nia Imani focus on providing these services?

• Homeless children are more likely to suffer from hunger, poor physical and emotional health.
• They are less likely to attend school, and more likely to fall behind in class. The longer children stay on the street, the farther behind they fall in school. (Stop Child Homelessness)
• By the age of 12, 83% of homeless children have experienced violence.
• Homeless children have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems.
• In the two years, Nia Imani’s calls for housing has increased 50% compared to prior years.
• Nia Imani Family works to solve these problems with participants by providing the life skills necessary for young mothers to get education for them and their children. These are the necessary services needed to break generations of poverty, and to live a healthy, stable life.