CCCD is committed to bettering the lives of under-served groups through the development of cooperatives that create jobs, home ownership opportunities and child care.
Empowerment comes when people gain control over a significant piece of their life and this becomes a vehicle to realizing entitlement to control and power in other areas. Since cooperatives are owned and democratically controlled by their members, empowerment is integral to membership.
Diana Samaguey is an intelligent, hardworking mother of three children. Before becoming a member-owner of Green Broom Brigade cooperative she had limited English language skills and worked in a series of positions in the cleaning-related industry. These positions were low paying and offered little hope for advancement. She also had no control over her work schedule or over using the harsh cleaning chemicals that irritated her skin.