New Ventures Maine staff recently completed teaching a series of classes for women living at the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center (SMWRC) in Windham. NVME Workforce Specialist Lisa Sweet and Microenterprise Specialist Gina Platt taught three classes–addressing money management, career and job readiness, and entrepreneurship–in person at the center between September and December. Here, they share their impressions and experiences of working with this unique group of participants.

The money-management class encouraged participants to consider their financial futures. “It was great to see these women engage in financial literacy conversations, especially when learning new things such as compound interest, saving for the future, and investing,” Lisa said. “Rainy Day Savings Accounts were also a wonderful incentive to build their savings and receive match funds; they were able to see that they can save, even if saving wasn’t possible for them before.”

In the career and job readiness class, Lisa provided individual support, working with participants to develop résumés. Participants also watched instructional videos and practiced responding to interview questions. “I’m hopeful that they will carry these nuggets of information forward with them,” Lisa said. She added that a highlight of one class session was when a participant shared that she asked for and received a raise at her work-release job because she learned how to go about it in class. “Teaching at SMWRC is some of the most rewarding work I do,” she said.

SMWRC is designed to give women the skills and experience they need to successfully live as positive citizens and employees after they transition from state correctional facilities into their home communities. The center houses up to 100 adult women who have five years or less left of their sentence. Programs and services offered to residents include education, substance use disorder treatment, cognitive-behavioral classes, community restitution projects, and the ability to participate in a community work release program. An emphasis is placed on reducing their risks of re-offending and on increasing their positive outcomes.

The business planning class also generated a high level of engagement and enthusiasm. “It’s a concrete way for residents to engage in planning for their release, giving each participant the opportunity to imagine a future in which they are successful entrepreneurs,” Gina said.

Participants learned about the necessary tools to start a business and the components of creating a business plan. “It was gratifying to see the residents engage with each other and the classwork, asking thoughtful questions and considering their ideas,” Gina said. Participants’ business ideas included a sober house, a café, a towing company, and an indigenous jewelry business, among others.

This was the second series of classes offered; the first ran between February and June of 2025. Both series addressed money management, career and job readiness, and entrepreneurship. Total enrollment in all of the classes offered was 85 participants (several participated in more than one class) and 19 women opened Rainy Day Savings Accounts, which will ultimately enable them to receive matched funds to support essential reentry needs. The classes were funded in part by a grant from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation.

For more on the final entrepreneurship class at SMWRC in December, view the News Center Maine story that aired on January 2, 2026.

Photo courtesy of Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center