Empowerment education: a case study of the Resource Sisters/Compañeras Program

Empowerment education is a social action process that promotes participation of communities in gaining control over their lives and their community. The Resource Sisters/Compañeras Program represents a case study in implementing an empowerment education effort. The program developed skills of women from the community to facilitate peer support groups that brought other women together. The program attempted to foster community development while also providing individual case management services. The program, its challenges, and its successes are described. The difficulties of possibly conflicting goals and objectives are discussed.