In 1994, the Women’s Missionary Union®, an organization with a rich history of missions and ministry, held a planning meeting to discuss the development of a program to address the needs of women in poverty. The inspiration for Christian Women’s Job Corps® came as a group of women visited ladies in the Appalachian region of the United States. They discovered that when women help women by mentoring them, both experience a life change. They felt this pattern could be replicated and expanded by a larger group of women helping women. These events led to the birthing of Christian Women’s Job Corps, which now spans 200 sites over many US states. The National CWJC program was recognized by the White House in 1999 as a viable program for assisting women in transition from welfare to work. In 2004 the first Christian Men’s Job Corps site opened in San Angelo, Texas to address similar needs of men.