As chair of the Quezon City Anti-Poverty Integration Task Force, the Office of the City Mayor has spearheaded “Tindahan ni Ate Joy,” a livelihood program promoting economic empowerment and equality in business and livelihood opportunities for women in the city.

Launched in 2013, the program provides economic support that will enable target recipients to be self-reliant and to recognize them as partners in QC’s economic growth rather than see them only as beneficiaries of the City’s social programs and services.               

Now running on its eighth year, the “Tindahan ni Ate Joy” program has supported 1,700 beneficiaries including home-bound mothers, solo parents, people with disabilities (PWDS), survivors of violence and abuse, and wives of drug dependents undergoing treatment in community rehabilitation centers.

Qualified beneficiaries will have the opportunity to receive ten thousand pesos worth of Sari-Sari store items and merchandise.

The program invests in the beneficiaries’ capacity to improve their family condition and to be recognized as part of the City’s economic force. The program offers a home-based industry for women provided that they comply with the set of conditions required by the program.

Apart from the livelihood assistance, the local government is also equipping beneficiaries with basic entrepreneurship training seminars in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry.

“Ayon sa mga datos, kapag ang nanay, ang babae sa pamilya, ay kumikita rin, mas lalo siyang nirerespeto ng kanyang mga anak at asawa. Tumataas din ang dignidad sa sarili dahil hindi siya umaasa sa ibang tao para sa kanyang kabuhayan”, Belmonte said in an interview.