Women's Bean Project empowers Denver women with employment and confidence

On any given morning inside a warehouse off Alameda Avenue in Denver, you'll find a hard-working group on an assembly line, carefully and proudly producing boxes of goods for sale to the community. Each box is "made with love," as it says on the side, along with the names of women who assembled them.

These women are part of the Women's Bean Project, a Denver nonprofit showing women that having a tough past doesn't define you; in fact, it can be your greatest asset.

CEO Shelby Mattingly says the Women's Bean Project meets women right where they are, then helps them stay employed.

"We are a transitional employer," she said. "So, when someone gets hired on, they work on the floor making and packaging all the products that we sell. But they also get comprehensive wraparound support, case management, training. They get support, like mental health and wellness screenings. They work with our literacy instructor on getting a GED or a high school diploma, getting to a 9th-grade reading level."

That's all regardless of past barriers. Brooke Scully is living proof of that. She found Women's Bean back in 2022, just after having her first baby.

"It was a lot," she recounted. "I didn't have my daughter when I started the program, so I was basically just trying to get to her. I was in a halfway house, so I was learning how to be an adult and coming here."

Daily, Scully stayed at it, with the resilience she's used all her life.

"I was taught how to be on time, be presentable and responsible, all that stuff. Learning how to work with machines and listen to my boss and be around other people working," she said.

Today, Scully not only works with these women, but she also leads them. She's been promoted to workforce coach, helping give them stability and confidence she found for herself and her family, which now includes two children.

"They're getting footing that they've never had before. The ripple effect is going to be on their kids, their family, friends, community, their employers," said Mattingly.

Scully flashed a beaming smile, reflecting on her accomplishments.

"I think that was the best part was actually finishing the program. I completed something for the first time in my life," she said.

Each box purchased benefits the nonprofit and women directly. Learn more here.