Mosaic Center in Lufkin celebrates 20 years of changing women’s lives

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - A Lufkin non-profit has spent the past 20 years helping hundreds of women with job and life skills. The Mosaic Center held their first class in 2005 and has grown to offer multiple programs over the years.

“Every piece matters in this mosaic,” Rebecca Reid, The Mosaic Center’s executive director, said.

The center has helped pick up the pieces for women looking to initiate a change in their life.

“20 years of transforming women’s lives in this community. 20 years of plans and purposes being fulfilled.”

Reid said sometimes women can go through a difficult journey and lose all hope. She said that’s why they are there; to be a beacon of hope for them.

“Women who are really struggling to move forward with their life, need support,” Reid said. “They need encouragement, they need to know that they have value and that they can find hope for their future.”

They offer a 12-week job and life skills program, and so far, more than 400 women have completed it.

“When I graduated, it was a sense of pride that no one could take away from you,” Amanda Johnson, a 2015 graduate of the program, said.

Found herself at the center after starting Angelina County’s Drug Court Program. Almost 10 years later she remembers the impact it had on her.

“It just helped me be confident in the choices I made, how I lived my life. It changed every aspect of my life coming here,” Johnson said.

She gives credit to the program and the skills she learned, saying it helped her in the position of general manager she started six months ago.

“Because I got the job with no experience, I feel like I just killed it with that interview. I couldn’t have done it without learning the things I did here,” Johnson said.

The center is currently working with their 40th class and they don’t have plans to stop there.

“We know that The Mosaic Center still has so much to offer women in our community and it’s going to take all this area to pour into their lives,” Reid said.

Their next session begins on Aug. 25. Click here to get more information.