ROCK SPRINGS — Climb Wyoming, a statewide nonprofit whose mission is for low-income single mothers to discover self-sufficiency through career training and placement, is celebrating 35 years of impacting vulnerable families in Wyoming.
Founded by psychologist Dr. Ray Fleming Dinneen in 1986, Climb began as a summer program for teen moms in Cheyenne and has expanded to six sites across Wyoming. Climb’s Sweetwater Area program was established in 2007 and has impacted 250 moms and 515 children in the Sweetwater area.
Climb’s program model has been recognized nationally as one of the best programs in the country for moving families out of poverty, with graduates consistently doubling their monthly income. In the last 35 years, Climb has saved the State of Wyoming $117 million from decreased dependence on public assistance programs among graduates.
Climb graduates have contributed 44 million hours of work to Wyoming’s economy, meeting the unique workforce needs of each community. The Sweetwater Area program features trainings in short-haul truck driving, warehouse technology, office, and healthcare careers. The program has trained many moms to work as Certified Nursing Assistants in the community’s hospitals and long-term care facilities, including the most recent training that continues to fill critical shortages for healthcare workers, especially during the pandemic.
The comprehensive Climb program includes specific industry training, life skills such as workplace communication, problem-solving, budgeting, and parenting, and mental health services. Staff also work closely with moms who aren’t ready for a training but need help gaining stability on the path to employment. During the pandemic, Climb’s model developed over the past 35 years adapted to continue serving moms, with components of the training conducted online and staff working to help moms access resources to help with job loss, childcare, and housing issues.
Throughout Climb’s history, employers have been critical to the success and financial stability moms discover. More than 3,000 employer partners statewide have hired graduates, supporting local families while gaining quality employees trained and motivated to work. In addition, trainers, community partners, and public and private financial supporters have been critical to the organization’s impact on families.
“Climb graduates are smart, talented, and motivated, and they’ve responded with courage to the many challenges the past year has thrown their way,” says Brittany Gray, Climb’s Sweetwater Area Program Director. “They make Wyoming’s workforce, and our communities, stronger as they move their families from surviving to thriving.”
About Climb Wyoming
Celebrating 35 years of working with single mothers to achieve self-sufficiency, Climb Wyoming is a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is for low-income single mothers to discover self-sufficiency through career training and placement. At Climb, success isn’t just about getting a job—it’s about financial independence for struggling mothers and changing the generational cycle of poverty one family at a time. For more information visit www.climbwyoming.org.