For more than 120 years, Workshops Empowerment Inc. has provided employment opportunities to people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. Today WE Inc. continues that legacy and provides much more. Through training and workforce development, we’re helping individuals be their best selves and reach their highest vocational potential.

At our Avondale facility, we provide paid training and employment as our program participants and employees complete handwork for dozens of local companies. For many it's the first time they have earned a paycheck, and for others it's a return to the workforce with an emphasis on learning and practicing good workplace behaviors. In 2021, 92 people were employed in our production departments and an additional 69 people received paid training, including dozens of Birmingham City Schools students with significant disabilities. 

When each person is ready, they are given the tools to attain the right job in the larger community, and our staff supports each person in the first few months of employment. 

WE Inc. also has a robust program that serves hundreds of high school students with disabilities from around the region, preparing them for the transition from high school to work.

We know that a job is much more than a paycheck. It's a sense of purpose and identity; a community of friends; an opportunity to contribute and give back. These are the values that drive our work!

In 2017, Workshops started a social enterprise called Avondale Mercantile. We built this line of business as an additional source of work for our production workers and to offer the community high-quality products supporting a great mission. When we changed our organizational name in 2021 from Workshops, Inc. to Workshops Empowerment Inc., Avondale Mercantile became WE Made.

In addition to our legacy products of fire starters and sprays, we added 4 delicious Southern Staples baking mixes to our line of products: Pound Cake, Hummingbird Cake, Buttermilk Biscuits, and Buttermilk Cornbread. These baking mixes inspired our Junior Board to create the Great Birmingham Bake Off!  We look forward to seeing you there!