St. Matthew’s House hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week for its Scott and Dolly McCartan Empowerment Hub at 4330 Tamiami Trail E. in East Naples. St. Matthew’s House provides programs and services that help Southwest Florida individuals and families experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, poverty and substance abuse to move from crisis to self-sufficiency and long-term stability.

The new Empowerment Hub expands St. Matthew’s House existing job training and education initiatives and extends access to at-risk populations in the community at large.

The 3,600-square-foot Empowerment Hub is designed to help at-risk adults and youth improve their circumstances through educational programming and mentorship. It will provide flexible classroom and meeting space and offer continuing education, classes in life skills, financial literacy, home ownership and more to open opportunities for employment as well as enhance local workforce development. It also will provide programs to encourage developing entrepreneurism and small business incubation. Alumni activities will provide socialization and continuing reinforcement to program participants, as well as networking opportunities. 

St. Matthew’s House began initial programming at the Empowerment Hub earlier this fall and will continue to mature operations and offerings in the coming months. It also will utilize entrepreneurial courses provided by Entrenuity, a nonprofit specializing in class curriculum for community-based organizations serving adults and youth. The selected curriculum provides a step-by-step guide to creating business plans while developing life skills, such as critical thinking, public speaking and teamwork.