Charting Their Own Destiny

With the right supporters, there is nothing a woman cannot achieve.

The emme coalition — the signature investment of the Fund for Women & Girls — connects women and girls with tools they can use for their entire lives and pass along to future generations.

Emme was launched in 2020 in response to the tremendous equity gap experienced by women in Fairfield County.

In Bridgeport alone, 56 percent of single female-headed households with children live in poverty. Black mothers die from pregnancy-related causes at three to four times the rate of white mothers. And by mid-adolescence, girls are twice as likely as boys to develop depression or mood disorders.

With emme, women and girls climb into the driver’s seat of their lives and have the power to chart a new destiny — with trained supporters riding with them to help navigate the journey.

This innovative, research-driven program — developed in partnership with OPTIMUS Health Care — works at the intersection of physical wellness, behavioral health, and social services to empower women to become their best selves. During its first year, 80 teens and women took part in emme — the vast majority of whom report that they are better prepared to parent and to handle stressful experiences.

Each woman and girl who enrolls in emme sets big goals for themselves; believes in their ability to reach those goals; and then achieves those goals, no matter how great the obstacles are in front of them.

And once they reach these goals, they don’t stop. They set another goal. And then another.

Because becoming your best self and being a productive member of your community does not begin and end with one goal in mind; it is a life-long learning process.