PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia-area organization is celebrating five decades of empowering women and young girls in the region.
Fifty years ago, five women from the area united to gather 45 people for a meeting about women’s issues. Today, the Women’s Resource Center of Greater Philadelphia continues to help uplift women to create better lives for themselves and their children, connecting more than 1,000 people annually to resources such as housing, education, employment and financial counseling.
“A unique aspect of our organization is that we continue to support women and girls as long as they need to overcome these difficult life transitions. There is no expiration date,” said Elizabeth Monroe, the center’s executive director. “We will stay with you for as long as it takes to basically get to that other side.
Monroe says women have made many advancements over the past 50 years. “Women in the 1970s couldn't even have a credit card, whereas now we are breaking glass ceilings,” she said.
“We are closing the wage gap, we are getting into those industries that were ‘male-dominated,’ we are being seen and heard as more equal — but there's always still more work to be done.”
What has stayed the same over the decades, according to Monroe, are societal and cultural expectations of women's roles.
“Our society still culturally views women as the primary caregiver to our children, and we are societally expected to take a backseat or take a career break to take care of the child rearing and the family,” she said.
The center offers a financial stability services program which enlists financial and career coaches to help women meet financial independence. It was designed to help women earn sustainable wages and guide them during vulnerable times of transition, such as the death of a spouse, divorce, child custody or job loss.
Their flagship initiative, the Girls Lead program, teaches middle and high school girls essential life skills. Girls Lead partnered with 22 schools last year and is expanding with plans to add six more schools this year.
Monroe says the recent shift in White House policies, including the removal of federal DEI initiatives, has made it crucial for the center to continue its work of supporting women in every aspect of their lives.
“We have to fill the void of what is not happening now,” she said, “so really, our voice and what we are doing to drive women's issues and empower women, and help women and support women in the community is now even more critical than it was before.”