Mission & vision

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

The Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan is dedicated to the economic and emotional self-determination of women, girls, and families.

Women in crisis have access to low-cost help from a therapist, job coach, divorce specialist, family law attorney, or financial adviser.

When women have the tools to assert their economic and emotional strengths, families and communities also thrive.

OUR VISION

That women will identify and magnify their strengths to achieve full economic and emotional health.

College library and female student, young african american woman studying at university

Mature Female Friends Socializing In Backyard Together

Change Elements

Counseling: We encourage individuals to discover and amplify their inherent strengths through therapy, support groups, and job and financial coaching.

Education: We are a learning community, which means that everyone is free to make — and learn from — mistakes without blame or shame. Learning does not proceed just one way: from expert to newcomer. It is an interactive, experiential process: supervisors learn from interns; employees learn from volunteers; interns learn from clients. New personalities and fresh ideas ensure mutual growth and keep the work relevant and rewarding.

Advocacy: We work to enhance a person’s desire for growth, to distinguish individual problems from systemic problems, and to carry out individual and social change.

Our guiding values

The underlying principle, which informs all others, is self-determination. Self-determination theory asserts that human beings are naturally striving, curious, spontaneous, and vital. We are inclined to 1) seek challenges, 2) gravitate toward choice, and 3) adopt behaviors that are prompted, modeled, or valued by others.

In addition to self-determination, Women’s Center associates also:

are committed to high-quality, financially-accessible service regardless of individual income or insurance status.
affirm equal access to our services, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, racial/ethnic background, ability, or income level.
strive for participative decision-making in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
maintain that gender and racial discrimination and other oppressions; power and economic inequities; domestic and sexual abuse; and the silencing of women’s voices are still commonly practiced in our society and profoundly impact emotional, economic, and physical health.
provide opportunities for participants to question, challenge, and make suggestions about social and economic policies that may ultimately impact their lives and the lives of their families.
bring together people and programs, both inside and outside our agency, to build a continuum of economic and emotional support.
are committed to be responsible, transparent, and accountable for all of our actions.
adhere to codes of professional conduct as required by our various disciplines – social work, counseling, and psychology.