Editorial – November announcements bring good news for women
In the last few days, announcements about projects concerning women have come from the White House and Wake Forest University and The Women’s Fund in Winston-Salem. The announcements show that organizations have pledged more research on women’s issues and developed projects concerning women, and that’s a good thing.
The Women’s Fund is a Winston-Salem Foundation initiative that is funded by membership fees and awards grants to groups and projects aimed at improving the lives of women. At its 10th annual luncheon on Tuesday, Nov. 17, The Women’s Fund awarded grants to five organizations that were responsive to the issues and recommendations outlined in its 2010 report “Through a Gender Lens: The Economic Security of Women and Girls in Forsyth County.”
In October, the Fund released an updated report titled “A Second Look Through a Gender Lens: The Ecomonic Security of Women and Girls in Forsyth County.” The new report showed progress in the graduation rate for girls from 2009 to 2014, and a teen pregnancy rate in Forsyth County that has dropped by more than half. But poverty remains a problem.
The five organizations that received the awards are:
*El Buen Pastor Latino Community Services, which was awarded $24,500 for economic empowerment of women in the Latino community.
*Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County, which was awarded $15,664 for a home maintenance workshop pilot program for women.
*Imprints Cares, which was awarded $29,997 for programs to prevent teenage pregnancy and to support teenage mothers.
*Old Town Elementary School, which was awarded $7,550 for “Full STEM Ahead,” an after-school STEM club for girls who attend Old Town Elementary.
*Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which was awarded $30,000 to implement the Contraceptive Choice project, which will educate low-income teenagers about contraceptive methods.
President Obama formed the White House Council on Women and Girls on March 11, 2009, when he signed an Executive Order creating it. He said that the purpose of the Council is “to ensure that each of the agencies in which they’re charged takes into account the needs of women and girls in the policies they draft, the programs they create, the legislation they support.”
On Friday, Nov. 13, Wake Forest University announced that it is among a group of 24 colleges, universities and public interest organizations that collectively announced $18 million in commitments to support and improve academic research about women and girls of color. The announcement came during a daylong summit on “Advancing Equity for Women and Girls of Color,” co-hosted by the Council and the Anna Julia Cooper Center at Wake Forest University.
Wake Forest’s commitment includes more than $1.4 million in ongoing support for the Anna Julia Cooper Center’s research focused on intersectional scholarship, established scholars and junior scholars whose work focuses on women and girls of color, and post-doctoral fellowships for scholars researching related questions related to gender, race and place.
Wake Forest University Provost Rogan Kersh said: “Women of color will constitute more than half of all women in the United States by 2050, but they are infrequently the central subjects of scholarly inquiry.”
The White House Council on Women and Girls project involving the academic institutions will help rectify that.
These announcements propel women to the forefront of work by organizations and academic research in an effort to improve the quality of life for women in Forsyth County and the nation. When the quality of life for women improves, the life of the family improves, especially in single-parent homes.
The focus on women in October brought disease and violence to the forefront. We applaud these recent announcements, which bring hope to women in November.
