Women in Transition:  Project Succeed
At the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women

What We Offer Now (2007-2008)

 ü   Returning to Learning Group and Individual Appointments
 ü    Computer Tutoring in the ECW Smith Barney Computer Lab
 ü    Stress Reduction Seminar
 ü    Understanding Self-Esteem
 ü    Assertiveness Training for Women
 ü    Advanced Assertiveness Training for Women
 ü    The Women’s Circle

Resources

 ü   Women Work! at http://www.womenwork.org
 ü    The Modern Woman’s Divorce Guide at  http://themodernwomansdivorceguide.com/
 ü    Northwest Ohio Community Resources List  Referral list (under construction)
 ü    Work life Expectancy Tables for Women http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/pdf/worklifekids.pdf
 ü   Violence Against Women Research Resource -  Research Information Network for women and girls in Illinois: www.uic.edu/orgs/rin
 ü    Facilities
 ü    Scholarships

 What We Don’t Have Now

ü    Funding for a career counselor
ü    A career development program
ü    We recommend going to resources above for assistance online
ü    The services we offered for more than 22 years, funded by the Ohio Board of Regents, for women in transition were eliminated in 2005 and we have not been able to replace it

 What We Did About It

    ü    We started an aggressive fundraising campaign in order to preserve limited services.  Go to Legacy Courtyard for details.
 ü    We provide limited services.  Go to What We Offer Now
 ü    We campaigned our state legislatures and the Ohio Board of Regents
 ü    We collaborated with our state counterparts at Baldwin Wallace, Southern State, and Cuyahoga
 ü    Continue our efforts to fund a 20 hour per week staff position for a women’s career development counselor

 What You Can Do About It

ü    Buy an engraved paver for the Legacy Courtyard

ü    Make a donation for a paver with a group

ü    Make an annual donation to the ECW Project Succeed Operations Fund at the UT Foundation. – The annual operating budget is $60,000.

ü    Make a donation to the William S. Eberly Memorial Project Succeed Endowment Fund  - Mr. Eberly, a long-time benefactor of the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women, has allowed the center to establish an endowment to move Project Succeed/ Women in Transition toward economic self sufficiency. A minimum of $1 million will be needed to accomplish this goal.

ü    Remember Project Succeed in Your Will – Your support allows Project Succeed women to become self-sufficient, tax-paying citizens, enabling them to be strong role models for their children, strengthening families and the community.

 Why Funding for Women in Transition in
Northwest Ohio is Still Important

July 2007:  Is Higher Education Still the Way Out of Poverty?

            When welfare reform cuts off women’s access to higher education that’s economic violence against women.  When TANF (welfare) rules are so complex and punitive that even if a woman manages to take classes while working 30 to 40 hours per week while also raising children, that’s economic violence against women.  When public institutions of higher learning raise tuition and provide no services for single mothers, displaced homemakers, or economically disadvantaged women that’s economic violence against women.  When women are forced into minimum wage, seasonal, temporary and dead end jobs, that’s economic violence against women. 

Get Ohio’s Women above a C- on the Social and Economic Autonomy Index by Providing Women in Transition Funding

• The economic status of women plays a critical part in the success and growth of every state and the entire country.
• Ohio’s women face significant obstacles to economic equality and security that impede both women and the state from achieving their full potential.
• Ohio earns a grade of C on the employment and earnings composite index.
• Earnings are the largest source of income for most families, and for dual-earner and single-mother families, women’s earnings are crucial to economic well-being.
• Please note that the combined percentages of widowed and divorced women at 22.3% is nearly equal to the percentage of families with children under the age of 18 heading by women or, in other words, single-mothers.
• Women in Ohio rank 29^th in the national on the Social and Economic Autonomy Index, earning a grade of C-.
• Ohio falls in the bottom third nationally for the proportion of its women 25 years and older with a 4-year degree, at 39^th. 
• Hispanic and African American are considerably disadvantaged in all of these indices.
• Parents’ low education leads to low income, despite full-time employment.
• Higher education leads to higher earnings.  Only 24% of children whose parents have some college education or more live in low-income families.
• Therefore, funding Women in Transition Programs which are designed to help low-income women access higher education is an economically sensible use of taxpayers’ funds.
• Students with bachelor degrees earn nearly $1 million more during a lifetime than those with a high school education and they pay proportionately higher taxes.
• Higher education leads to higher earnings.  Only 24% of children whose parents have some college education or more live in low-income families.
• Therefore, funding student Women in Transition Programs which are designed to help low-income student women access higher education is an economically sensible use of taxpayers’ funds.
• As of 2005, more than 462 students have gone on from the Women in Transition Program to obtain their degrees at the University of Toledo.  Forty students obtained their degrees in 2004 alone. 
• Some have completed coursework and obtained suitable, gainful employment.
• Other students have continued with their graduate education in pharmacy, teaching, and law school.
• The children of the Women in Transition Program follow their parents into college and into better paying jobs.
• The children of Rebecca Martin Hurst, a bachelor and master degreed participant, created the first ever scholarship for domestic violence survivors in her memory in 2005. 
• The Women in Transition Program is open to male students.

Patricia A. Murphy

Women in Transition: Project Succeed Success Profiles