Health

DCWA: Economic security is key to the city's health.

Posted on by Jessica Goshow

In keeping with my promise last week, I’m back with more on the DC Women’s Agenda’s white paper, Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations for City Leaders 2007–and action you can take to encourage city leaders to increase the economic security of our region’s women.

This week’s topic is economic security for women and girls, or, the lack thereof, and how it feeds into a number of other issues facing our city.  Economic security is at the forefront of every issue in the white paper, largely because we can talk about the housing crisis, healthcare, and domestic violence and other safety issues (and don’t worry, we will), but without a good job, these topics are all moot.

An individual must have a job in order to survive, to have basic needs met.  Having a good job is the starting point to all other things in one’s life.

As the white paper details:

Economic security is a critical component of healthy, stable lives. Individuals and families fall apart in the absence of good jobs—ones that pay self-sufficient wages, include benefits such as health insurance and paid sick days, and provide flexibility to balance work and family. The foundation to obtaining and maintaining a job is a quality education and strong skills in areas where there is a need and where good jobs exist.

For women and girls in the District of Columbia, unfortunately, both the foundation for economic security and that security itself are in short supply. The school system fails to adequately educate our young women, and the job training programs that exist inadequately position women to obtain good jobs in strong markets. Even when a woman is able to receive the education and training she needs, the jobs themselves frequently lack the kind of flexibility that is so crucial for balancing work and family.

The large majority of single parent households in the District of Columbia are headed by women, so women are the ones who suffer by the city’s lack of affordable, available child care and the nonexistence of laws requiring employers to provide paid sick days of family and medical leave.

There is no hiding the fact that the gap between the rich and the poor in D.C. is extremely vast. The business community in D.C. is booming, but it is not D.C. residents who are benefiting.  In D.C., employers are required to fill 51 percent of all new jobs with D.C. residents in an effort to ensure that those who live in the city are getting its jobs.

This sounds like a good idea…if it were enforced.  According to a report done by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, the Department of Employment Services has never fined a business for failure to comply.

In D.C., 30 percent of women-headed families are living in poverty and 11 percent of women are unemployed. This is just shy of double the national rate of unemployment.

There are many barriers that women and girls face when it comes to attaining sustainable employment, the largest of these being education and job training.

The education system in the District is lacking.  By 8th grade, 69 percent of students in D.C. public schools have below average math skills, as compared to 32 percent nationwide. With statistics like that, it is not surprising that many of D.C.’s children are not prepared when it comes time to find a job. 

And that therefore job training would be extremely beneficial.

For those who are fortunate to get a job in D.C., the barriers do not stop there.

Half of the city’s private sector jobs do not provide paid sick days or paid family and medical leave.  If an individual is lucky enough to find a decent paying job in D.C., they better not get sick because they do not have the luxury of being able to take a day off with pay.  Most low wage workers are forced to make the decision of staying home to care for themselves or go to work sick.

Many do not have a choice. They have to go to work.

Some even run the risk of getting fired for taking a day off to care for themselves.

Allowing workers to take a day or two to take care of themselves will ensure a shorter recovery time and mean that when the worker is at work, they are working at their full potential and not nursing an illness.

Currently there is legislation going through the DC City Council that would provide full time workers up to 10 paid sick days and part time workers five days.  With these available days, a worker can stay home to take care of themselves as well as a child or other family member if they are sick. The employee can take the days without fear of repercussion.

The DC Employment Justice Center, along with many other nonprofits, service providers and advocates hope that this legislation will provide some relief to already over worked, underpaid D.C. workers.

Talking about topics such as these can be overwhelming and frustrating. It’s hard to know what to do to combat such complex issues. One thing that you can do to help provide the workers of D.C. with some time off to take care of themselves is to contact your councilmember and tell them that you support the Paid Sick and Safe Days Act of 2007. You can also show your support by coming out to the public hearing on July 9 at 3 p.m. at the John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

Or, if you would like more information about the paid sick and safe days initiative, please feel free to contact me at any time.

For more information on the Paid Sick and Safe Days Act of 2007, see Jack Mahoney’s previous post on how you can help build economic security in an office near you!

Jessica’s previous post on the white paper can be found here.  And there will be more to follow! 

Jessica Goshow is DC Employment Justice Center’s (DCEJC) legal and policy associate.  Being that EJC and Wider Opportunities for Women are the co-chairs of the DCWA, she was involved in the coordination, writing, and reviewing of the white paper.

The DC Women’s Agenda, DC Employment Justice Center and Wider Opportunities for Women are all Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation. 

DCWA: Calling all city leaders!

Posted on by Jessica Goshow

The DC Women’s Agenda (DCWA) is a local advocacy and policy coalition that began in the spring of 2003 and works to promote the advancement, equality, and well-being of women and girls in D.C.–and it is a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation. 

DCWA is a coalition of a diverse group of advocates, service providers, and individuals who work together to address issues of social and economic justice that women and girls face on a daily basis living in our community. The DCWA is co-chaired by the DC Employment Justice Center and Wider Opportunities for Women (also Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation!)

During monthly meetings of the DC Women’s Agenda about current events in the District affecting women and girls, the coalition determined that in 2007, as D.C. brought in a new Mayor and City Council, that it was an important time to build awareness of these issues among our new city leaders. 

Emerging from these discussions is a white paper, "Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations to City Leaders 2007," which outlines for our city’s leaders and citizens the key issues and challenges facing D.C.’s women and girls. 

The paper gives concrete suggestions for what changes are needed and addresses topics such as economic security, housing, health and health education, criminal justice, safety, leadership and accountability and girls.

Each section provides information and statistics about the problem, and gives specific recommendations about what resources and programs need to be created and what must be improved upon that already exists in order for women and girls to thrive in the District of Columbia.

The paper puts all of the information at the fingertips of the politicians.

The white paper was distributed to the Mayor and all members of the D.C. City Council, as well as each member of the DC Commission on Women.  We also sent it to the two Congressmen who are in charge of the Congressional Committee that has oversight of the District (Chairman Henry Waxman and Ranking Member Tom Davis) and to DC’s Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, so that, if they want to, they can hold the Mayor and city leaders accountable on these issues.

The white paper was also distributed to a number of organizations that serve women in the District. It can also be accessed on TheWomensFoundation.org. 

Over the coming weeks on this blog, we’ll be going through each section of the white paper to discuss and highlight key elements and to illuminate what life would be like for women and girls in the District if the recommendations were to be acted upon. 

We hope to create awareness, as well as lively discussion and debate on the important facts outlined in the paper, and what action on the recommendations could mean for the women and girls of this city, as well as the city as a whole.  

Jessica Goshow is DC Employment Justice Center’s (DCEJC) legal and policy associate.  Being that EJC and Wider Opportunities for Women are the co-chairs of the DCWA, she was involved in the coordination, writing, and reviewing of the white paper.

The DC Women’s Agenda, DC Employment Justice Center and Wider Opportunities for Women are all Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation. 

Food Stamp Challenge: Lessons learned, from the personal to the global.

Posted on by Sherell

Well, I didn’t successfully complete the one-week D.C. Hunger Food Stamp Challenge, but, I did learn valuable lessons and new personal insights. 

But first, full disclosure.  Why didn’t I finish?  I pretty much gave up.  I tried, but it was pretty tough.

The first lesson I learned was, if grocery shopping on a limited budget, it’s best to buy everything before the week begins. That way, it’s harder or better yet impossible, since there’s no money, to be tempted to buy high priced foods here and there throughout the week that you really don’t need.

The second lesson I learned is how connected I am with food, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. The fourth night of the challenge was the hardest. I went to bed feeling almost depressed because I couldn’t eat what I really wanted. The smell and taste was so close, yet so far.  Up until the fourth day, physical hunger wasn’t a problem, but that night, my stomach was feeling empty.  Ironically while I write this, an ABC Nightline commercial just aired about gastric-bypass surgery and referred to food “as an addiction.”

On the morning of the third day, I was so irritable that I grabbed a cold cookie from a refrigerator and ate it within 20 seconds. I felt so restricted that I didn’t even warm it up like I usually do. I didn’t even like that particular chocolate flavor, but it was sweet, quick, satisfying, accessible, and free.

I pretty much knew that I was going to go back to the usual eating regime on the morning of the fifth day. I still can’t really imagine how people who are really suffering from chronic hunger, and people who don’t necessarily starve, but who can’t afford the foods of their choice, feel.

I think I took it so hard because it was such a fresh experience for me, but for someone who hasn’t had the foods of their choice for months, I wonder if there is a kind of desensitization to the whole thing of missing tastes.

All this wondering made me pull the late Elliot Liebow’s, Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women, off my bookshelf.  I like this book because the information comes from his participatory observation of single, homeless women in emergency shelters in DC.  One of the main problems of daily living was health and diet.

“Obesity, stomach disorders, diabetes, food allergies, cardiovascular irregularities, and other disorders for which diet is integral to treatment made up another class of common health problems that resisted treatment by the very nature of homelessness…typically in shelters, few choices were available. Low-fat, low-salt, low cholesterol…and other low-this-or-that dietary injunctions were almost impossible to observe,” Liebow writes.   

Nobody, especially in the U.S., should go hungry, and/or be subject to affordable but highly unhealthy food. We have enough food in our stores and restaurants for everyone to eat sufficiently and healthy. This made me want to do a little research.

According to the nonprofit organization CARE:
•  More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished — 799 million of them live in the developing world;
•  Over 153 million of the world’s malnourished people are children 5 years of age or younger; and,
•  A lack of essential minerals and vitamins contributes to increased child and adult mortality. Vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune system, increasing the annual death toll from measles and other diseases by an estimated 1.3 million-2.5 million children.

That’s hard to digest (no pun intended), not because it doesn’t seem valid (I wish that were the case), but because it’s mind blowing.

What’s going on in the most developed country?

Looking at hunger stats at home (the U.S.) according to FRAC (The Food and Research Action Center):
•  At least 10.8 million people live in homes considered to have “very low food security.”
•  In my home state, Maryland, 196,000 households were considered “food insecure” from data gathered between 2003-2005. 115,165 of people in these households were WIC recipients (Women Infants and Children). Minimum wage in Maryland was $6.15 as of 2006. That is not enough for a woman who has a young child or children, and is trying to pay for decent housing, to live on.
•  In DC, the number is lower, with 31,000 households considered to be “food insecure” from data gathered between 2003-2005. 15,193 of people in these households considered food insecure are WIC recipients. The minimum wage in DC was $7.00 as of 2006.

These types of facts outrage me, especially when I hear about the kids.  That’s also what made it frustrating to quit the challenge prematurely–guilt from knowing that I have the privilege to return to my “regular eating” when many don’t.

On a positive note, a good insight I had from all this was that I should continue volunteering at the Pathways shelter I go to monthly.  I am a “dinner volunteer” for the smaller subcomponent of Calvary Women’s Services in DC, and in the two weeks prior to the challenge, I’d just started searching for different volunteering opportunities that might provide more direct interaction between me and the clients.   

Pathways houses about 10 chronically homeless women, some with mental disorders, and at the site there isn’t much talk between me and the women when I go to deliver food and prepare plates.  While I understand why they wouldn’t want to chat it up with someone they see bring some dinner in every once in a while, I really would like an opportunity that allows me to interact more, so I was thinking of not going anymore, and instead looking into reading for children in local hospitals or something.

After this challenge, while I can look for other opportunities, I know I can’t stop bringing the food.  The women always say they like my dishes, and the least I can do is send some hot, tasty, nutritious dishes their way.

Nobody should have to go hungry, and for me it starts on working on issues that affect the women right here in the local community.

For information on other ways to get involved in our community, Volunteer and Connect! 

Food Stamp Challenge: Final reflections…

Posted on by nisha

I did it! I made it through all seven full days of the Food Stamp Challenge without breaking!

Day 4, Thursday, was okay.  Breakfast was the standard yogurt and Special K Bar.  Lunch was my $1 pizza, which felt like such a treat even if it wasn’t the best tasting thing I’ve ever eaten. I ate my dinner of a Boca burger with cheese on whole wheat before heading to my Bread for the City board meeting.  I resisted eating the usual pizza and salad provided at our Board meetings, and just had a glass of water. Several other board members and staff were participating in the challenge, so there were many of us who weren’t eating.  We spent some time at the meeting reflecting on our experiences, and the solidarity was helpful in reminding me why I agreed to take on this challenge in the first place and why an organization like Bread is so necessary.

Day 5, Friday, was the toughest of all for me throughout the challenge. Lately, I’ve been hitting the gym five days a week and I tried to stick with it during the challenge, which was tough. After my workout on Friday, the rest of the day was a struggle. After four and half days of eating so few calories, burning quite a lot (although not as much as usual, as I had zero energy left to do any weights), and then enduring the Code Orange air and 90 percent humidity, memories of heat exhaustion in Delhi came flooding back. But, alas, no access to Limca Cola to perk me up.

I could barely focus at the morning workshop I attended, and I was so cranky and hungry and numb as I slugged back to my office throughout the downtown heat, loathing the smell of the city in the summer. I ate my last remaining tuna and cheese sandwiches. I somehow managed to stay alert by constantly drinking water through my afternoon meetings and the graduation of WAWIT’s inaugural class (even my weariness from the Food Stamp Challenge could not keep me away!).

I was too exhausted afterwards to do anything but go home and go to bed.

Day 6, Saturday, was tolerable. Having purchased just enough yogurt and Special K Bars for my weekday breakfasts, I had been counting on eating toast for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated how much bread I had, so I had to skip breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I slept in and then hit the gym. I staved off my hunger with leftover pasta and beans throughout the day.  I got pretty creative with tossing pasta with a little olive oil and spices to try and fool the palate into thinking I was eating something different. I didn’t have a choice, as I was out of pretty much everything else.

Saturday evening, I met some friends for movie, which was good since eating wasn’t involved. Afterwards, we decided to enjoy the pleasant weather and catch up over drinks at a place with an outdoor patio, which meant tap water for me and beers and munchies for everyone else. It actually felt good to be able to exercise some will power, but then I was starving by the time I got home. As it was after midnight, I decided it was too late to eat and went straight to bed and tried to forget about being hungry.

Day 7, Sunday, could not pass fast enough. By the end of the day, I had eaten almost all of my remaining pasta. I have maybe a couple of ounces of dry pasta left, but other than that, I have eaten every scrap of food I purchased for the challenge.

I weighed myself before and after the challenge. I lost four pounds.  I think I ended up skipping a total of three meals during the seven days. Reflecting on the past seven days, I am reminded of my experience bungy jumping in New Zealand:

a)  I did it on a whim.
b)  It was horrifying.
c)  I’m glad I did it.
d)  I proved to myself that I could do it without chickening out.
e)  I don’t feel the need to ever do it again.
f)  Now, that it’s over, I have a feeling of sweet relief.

Food Stamp Challenge: Hungry and going broke, alone.

Posted on by Sherell

Wow, I have 3.5 days left of this challenge, and little to spend. The first grocery shopping trip totaled $4.09 from my Wal-Mart purchases of sandwich ingredients and Ramen, but since then I’ve spent about $11.00.

Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in the lack of willpower I’ve exhibited in the last three days. The estimated $11 worth of food eaten doesn’t come from a shopping receipt.  It comes from me succumbing to food around my house.  I’m not as hard on myself for the morning of the fourth day; I needed an aspirin and that doesn’t go well on an empty stomach, and I’d left the PB&J stash at work.

Even though I’ve eaten smaller portions of the available free food than I usually would, I’ve decided to count yesterday’s divulgences as purchases. Here’s a list of what I already had in my refrigerator that I have partially eaten or drunk with estimated prices (no receipt):

-$3.80 Organic Valley half gallon of organic milk (Wal-Mart)
-$0.79 Low Fat, Strawberry Yoplait Yogurt (Purchased at a commissary- grocery store for military families located on an army base.  Prices are lower than “outside” grocery stores.)
-$3.50 Personal Pan Cheese Pizza Hut Pizza (price includes a military discount)
-$2.50 Large Orange flavored vitamin water (contains vitamin C)
-General Mills Cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch (probably a little over $3.00 from the commissary)

Technically, I need to make about $3.00 work until Monday afternoon- whew. 

Thoughts of food, like what to eat, when, how much it will cost, etc., have been running through my mind since early this morning. On my way to work, I thought about McDonald’s. Last night, as I was browsing through blogs of other Food Stamp Challengers, I noticed that one woman had factored in the McDonald’s dollar menu. So, this morning, I reminisced about the $1.00 McChicken sandwich that I used to love and eat at least twice a week as a freshman in college. I was already planning that I could munch off the food I have already been rationing, continue finishing the peanut butter and jelly, and have one item from the dollar menu for the next three days.

But, ever since watching the documentary Supersize Me, I have stayed away from it for the past two years, and it was a bit odd for me to realize that I was actually considering going back. It would be so convenient.  It’s cheap, fast, and it tastes good, but I’m still a little leery about what’s in there to make it so good. 

It brings home how given my limited budget, I have to think first about staying under the $3.00 than to watch for nutrition. 

I keep asking myself, if I can’t even stick to this one week challenge what does it say about me and my relation to food and money?

In addition to being slightly disappointed with myself for not adhering to the suggestions in the Food Stamp Challenge guidelines, there have been times where I’ve felt a little disheartened by some people’s skepticism towards me taking part in the challenge.  The family and friends that knew I would take part in this were very quizzical of the challenge, and freely expressed their disagreement and lack of empathy.  Most of them began with “Why?” and, if it was said in person, their face scrunched up and almost read, “Okay, whatever.”

On the third day of the challenge, I even almost got into an argument with my mother. (In a goodhearted way).  But, it really was frustrating, because I told her on more than one occasion that I couldn’t spend more than $21 on food for the week, yet when I come home, there’s food waiting. Then I proceed to eat some, and add it into my sinking budget. I guess I might be getting frustrated with myself and using her as an accessible path to channel the guilt. She takes my talk of the Food Stamp Challenge in one ear and out the other.

The bigger picture I want to start digging into after this week is people’s reactions to my decision to take on the challenge, and why most let the information go in one ear and out the other.  Except for my co-workers, most people listened to me for no more than thirty seconds before moving on to another topic.  

Being hungry and not being listened to…it’s all a little saddening, but a good learning experience for me to go through.

Food Stamp Challenge: Mind over matter, or over food, for that matter.

Posted on by Sherell

The first night of the Food Stamp Challenge, I had the particularly odd experience of dreaming about food. I was thinking about it so much, about the taste and how I felt restrained from it.

The first day went fine.  I ate good things and wasn’t that hungry, it was just the thought of not having access to any food or drink I wanted.  Before I went to bed, I had the quick thought of going to Starbucks the next morning for a Double Chocolate Chip Frappacino, but then I quickly remembered that I couldn’t afford Starbucks. Even the smallest size costs over $3.00!

I also though about and wished for fresh fruit, the smell and taste, the colorful mix of pineapples and strawberries, and how I hadn’t had any. I guess these thoughts were precursors to the dream.

In my dream, I was so hungry that my stomach hurt, and I had the option of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a pack of Ramen chicken noodles, and I didn’t care to eat either.

The second day was more challenging than the first. I ate my usual breakfast, two Quaker oatmeal packs left over from last week. For lunch, I packed one peanut butter and jelly sandwich because I didn’t want to eat the lunch I knew would be provided at the day’s work retreat. When the catering arrived, I tried to not think about the food, but it was as if my senses were doubly alert.  I heard people crunching on chips, getting soda, putting ice in their cup.

I finally got one bag of chips and two cookies, not too healthy. I forgot about the Nature Way granola bar I had packed in my purse, probably because I wasn’t too excited about the taste. (They taste fine, but pale in comparison to a sugar cookie.) 

I felt like a failure for breaking down and eating some of the food provided, so for dinner I ate my Ramen noodles and stayed away from the home cooked food.  It was filling, but not too healthy, and was a little disappointing as I watched my sister and nephew eating their food heartily.

My friend purchased one Krispy Kreme orginal glaze iced donut for me. At first, I refused, but then I reasoned that one donut is fairly cheap, and I ate it. I’m finding a motif here. I am thinking about food so much, and the taste, that whenever I come in contact with something tasty and unhealthy, I am very quick to eat it.  I had a pretty high amount of sugar and salt yesterday that it almost makes me embarrassed to think about. In addition to eating unhealthy free foods without a second thought, I eat them fast, as though someone is going to take it away from me and put yet another restraint on me.

It’s a good thing I have half a bottle of Odwalla “Mo Beta” fruit juice left over, a few sips of it a day will have to suffice as my fresh fruit supplement. I can’t wait to buy and eat real fresh fruit next week. Usually, I go to the nearby Soho or Sizzling Express and get a small take-out of strawberries, oranges, and pineapples, but the total runs between $3.50 and $5.00 so that will have to wait.

Scary to think that this is just one week, when in reality it’s months and months longer for many low-income women on food stamps.

For more insights into Sherell’s Food Stamp Challenge experience, check out her post on D.C. Hunger Solution’s blog.   

Food Stamp Challenge: Personal control nonexistent on $21/week…

Posted on by Sherell

It’s the first day of my Food Stamp Challenge, and for now, things are going smoothly. 

I must be honest and put out a disclaimer: Today, I have access to select free food from a relative’s house.  The rules state that we should try avoiding food at friends’ houses, so I guess one could say that while I’m not breaking a rule, I’m not following it, either.  I have snacks and homemade foods available to me, when this challenge is to put myself in the shoes of someone who doesn’t.

To counter this, I’m going to eat the available free food in smaller portions that I usually would, so I won’t have the luxury of devouring however much I want.

The food I have consists of:

  • macaroni and cheese–ingredients include pepper, Promise butter, varieties of Kraft cheeses, elbow macaroni, and several McCormick spices
  • Mahatma white rice; and,
  • baked chicken wings seasoned with several McCormick spices

I also have some leftover brand foods that I purchased last week before the challenge, such as Quaker oatmeal and Odwalla organic juice. I wanted to outline what food I do have to make a point that those ingredients are expensive, and I would not be eating this food on a $21/week budget without someone else providing it for me. The organic fruit juice cost nearly $4.00 alone at the nearby Whole Foods Market.

But, in an effort to adhere to the rules of challenge, I will not purchase any food that I can’t afford on the food stamp budget and last night, I got a taste of the difficult challenge grocery shopping poses.

First of all, I had to go to Wal-Mart, which I personally don’t shop at due to all the negative news I have continued to learn about the store over the last few years.  But, if I’m limiting myself to spending no more than $3.00 per day on food, how can I opt to visit Giant Food or CVS over Wal-Mart?

I don’t get newspapers that sometimes include coupons, so I don’t have coupons to benefit me at one of the more expensive stores.

In the food aisle, I started thinking, "Okay, these prices aren’t too bad, maybe I can do this,” but, as I started picking up products and calculating, I realized that this budget would be tougher than imagined. I didn’t have a pre-made list, I just knew I wanted products that were cheap and filling.  Ramen noodles, pasta noodles, pasta sauce, oatmeal, milk and bread were among the main things on my mental shopping list.  I didn’t plan on buying fresh fruit, because it would be too expensive.  Maybe I will price a few bananas this week at Giant. (No Wal-Mart is near my house, I just happened to be next to one yesterday).

I picked up some whole grain pasta noodles that were moderately priced (a little over $1.00) but the pasta sauce (Ragu) was too expensive, so I put the noodles back. I found the Ramen for 14 cents, and I was happy about that. Looking at the sodium (over 700 mg) on the nutrition facts didn’t make me so happy. My sister suggested cutting the seasoning pack in half to reduce some of the salt intake. That will help, but now it will be more bland than it already tastes.

As I stood in line with two packs of chicken noodles, I decided to go back for peanut butter and jelly, and wheat bread. It’s filling, easy, cheap, and tasty! The store brand white bread was the cheapest, a little over $1.00, but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy white. I bought the cheapest wheat bread pack at $2.34. The cheapest peanut butter was the store brand which cost $1.47. The household I am staying in already had jelly on hand, whew! (The rules allow for usage of condiments already in stock.)

At the register, I learned that I already went over my budget!  I didn’t want to spend more than $3.00, but that’s fine, I will have to adjust by spending under $3.00 the next time I buy food. The noodles, bread, and peanut butter came to $4.09, and actually, while writing this blog, I just realized that the cashier made the mistake of not charging me for tax.

Leaving Wal-Mart, I came to the conclusion that shopping on this amount of money leaves one with a not-too-colorful taste palette, and an unhealthy body. 

I think you can eat enough to survive, but I couldn’t pick any of the tasteful, more nutritious foods I would usually opt for. I had to bypass the Kellogg’s cereals (that were on sale), General Mills cereal bars, and pasta for spaghetti. Those items would have been almost $3.00 each with tax, and they aren’t filling by themselves.

All the spices I usually buy to season foods with in the kitchen are such a privilege, but I take them for granted as a regular part of my life.

At the beginning of the work week, I typically pay at least one visit to Au Bon Pain or Corner Bakery to get an iced cinnamon bun or cinnamon crumb muffin, but that will not be happening this week. No delicious treats like that are coming my way!

And I thought dieting seemed hard!

This time it’s not self-restraint for the sake of toning up, it’s real-life fiscal restraint.  Whereas there is some form of personal control in dieting, it is almost nonexistent on $21.00 a week.

Women's Health Week inspires concern, hope, action

Posted on by Sherell

Kicked off on Mother’s Day, the week of May 13-19 was National Women’s Health Week, which was also honored here in Washington, D.C.

I’ve been reflecting on it a lot. I think it could have been advertised more aggressively.  I can’t even remember how I found out.  I think I read it in a small section of the Express.  Like so many women’s health issues, it just wasn’t that obvious and didn’t seem to garner the attention it warranted.     

The phrase “Women’s Health Week” makes me think about the many health problems that are unique to women. Even though that week has passed, I hope the women who did know about it took some extra steps to get to know their bodies better and learn healthier living habits.

Thinking about how historically, women’s health hasn’t been taken as seriously as it should be in the medical field, my mind drifted back to older examples of the lacking priority given to women’s health.  One such example is the birth control supplement Norplant, and the devastating effects it left on some of the women who used it.  In 1996, an astonishing number of at least 50,000 women filed lawsuits, claiming they were not informed about all the side effects of Norplant (depression, headaches, irregular bleeding, etc).  Wyeth won all their court cases, but did offer $1,500 as an out-of-court settlement accepted by a little over 30,000 women.

In addition to Norplant, I thought about weight and the many health complications many women experience because of eating disorders or unhealthy eating in general. All these troublesome thoughts took my mind back to Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth because it has a great, personal reflection on eating disorders (and health problems in general) specific to females.  So many things run through one’s mind when you hear the term "eating disorder."  Though they are becoming more serious in the lives of men, too, I still thought about the health complications that come with binge eating or undereating in relation to women, as they are disproportionately affected by them.

What about women’s access to affordable, quality health insurance?  How many women don’t go to the doctor, knowing something isn’t working right with their body, because they can’t afford to and/or have no insurance to?  I was shocked to learn that in our region, 12-14 percent of women are uninsured, and that these women are more likely to receive late-stage diagnosis of certain cancers due to lack of access to preventative screenings.  

This starts to cut into issues of race and class, as they all intersect. 

I didn’t really come to any one conclusion after these thoughts.  I guess I immediately thought about the overwhelming health problems that face us when I read about Women’s Health Week. 

It just reiterated for me the long journey that women have to continue to successfully climb in society.

Though we’ve got a long way to go, I’m excited that The Women’s Foundation’s Stepping Stones initiative recognizes the importance of health in the lives of women and girls in the Washington metropolitan area, and will be planning and launching specific work around health in the near future.  In fact, it’s already begun with our Leadership Awards Program, which is seeking out innovation and quality programming in health and safety on behalf of women and girls in our area! 

Also, I get to take in a lot of proposals from organizations doing work that impacts the health of women and girls, and seeing the different projects and programs going on makes me aware of the overwhelming problems, but also of the fact that people are out there who care and are determined to make a difference. So many motivated individuals and groups are creating programs and initiatives to address the many health problems facing women and girls in our area.

Personally, I am guilty of not putting myself to the test last week!  Perhaps I could have scheduled my annual physical, started a new exercise schedule, or incorporated healthier foods into my diet.

But, of course, health isn’t something that we should relegate to one week of intense focus.  So even if you didn’t get the chance to really sit down and reflect on how to better change and evaluate your health, you still can, anytime!

My first step for this week is to set aside a specific timeslot in my week to exercise for at least half an hour.  We have to begin somewhere!

What will you do to take care of yourself? 

News and Views of Note: Week of May 14, 2007

Posted on by Lisa Kays

See below for a round-up of what was news this week in the world of philanthropy, social change and women and girls in the Washington metropolitan region and beyond:

This month is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  In celebration, Feministing has invited API women to offer their voices to the blog. 

Among them this week, Kiran Ahuja, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, reflected on being a young leader.  She writes, "That I am one of the youngest leaders in the national women’s movement is telling and highlights a serious challenge for the movement – where and when do we make room for new, young and diverse leaders, and when do we see that the inclusion of them determines the success of our movement?" 

Liezl Tomas Rebugio, also of NAPAWF, writes in "Connecting the Dots: Human Trafficking and Reproductive Justice," "The trafficking of women and girls is the quintessential example of reproductive oppression. ‘Get your laws off my body’ was a slogan used in the 1970’s during the women’s movement. But how does that apply to trafficked women and girls whose bodies are not treated as their own, but are treated as commodities?"

The Women’s Foundation in the News!

A May 11, 2007 Washington Times editorial, "Lasting security a Mother’s Day wish for many," by Adrienne Washington, advocates thinking in terms of long-term investments in women’s economic security for Mother’s Day, and not just in terms of long-stemmed roses–and she discusses Stepping Stones and Training Futures, a Grantee Partner, as examples of how to do just that!  

Stepping Stones Research Briefing Related News!
On May 11, 2007, The Women’s Foundation, in partnership with The Urban Institute, hosted the second annual Stepping Stones Research Briefing, featuring research on financial education and wealth creation, child care and early education and microenterprise development–with each topic examined from a gender lens.  To download the audio, or to check out the panelists’ presentations, click here!

Peter Tatian, a senior research associate with The Urban Institute, was quoted shortly thereafter in an article in the Examiner on subprime mortgages in our region, and their impact on increasing rates of foreclosures.  This topic was also explored at the briefing through Meghan Gallagher’s presentation, "Female Borrowers in the Washington Mortgage Market" and on The Huffington Post, where Jon Goldin-Dubois discussed how mortgage foreclosures are skyrocketing due to increasing sub-prime lending and a lack of regulation by the government.

Local Philanthropy and Activism

The Washington Post reports on more than 90,000 people–primarily women and mothers–throughout 37 states and Washington, D.C. who are "Pushing the Motherhood Cause," by meeting to mobilize around "six main issues: family leave, flex time, health insurance, child care, fair wages and children’s activities, such as better after-school programs. Their proposals are not new, but together they create a ‘motherhood’ agenda that has attracted a fresh enthusiasm."   

Women and Health and Safety
Health and safety is the focus of this year’s Leadership Awards Program and an issue area under Stepping Stones. See below for research and discussion that informs and impacts the health and safety of women and girls on a local and national level.

On Feministing, Jessica asks whether "Women-only hotel rooms"–designed to increase safety for women in hotels–are really a valid safety tactic, or whether it’s just a way of separating women instead of trying to improve the world they live in?  She asked a similar question about Brazil’s women-only train cars, designed to curb sexual harrassment. 

An article by Allison Stevens with Women’s eNews, "Bush May Veto Bill That Would Help Protect Hate Crime Victims," explains that, "Women’s rights groups are making a last-ditch push to enact legislation that would expand existing "hate crimes" laws to include gender and other categories such as sexual orientation, gender identity and disability."  Acvocates of the bill say that it would greatly benefit women and girls.  "Women could stand to gain substantially from the law," reports Stevens.  "The bill would add significant resources for prosecution of crimes in which the victims were targeted for their gender, as was the case in two high-profile shootings last fall in Pennsylvania and Colorado."

On Poverty and Economic Security

Education is a crucial component on the pathway to economic security for many.  In Give and Take, Peter Panepento discusses in, "Scholarships: What’s a Donor to Do?," the difficulty faced by those who want to fund college scholarships for those with the greatest need.  Citing research, Panepento writes, "The major problem…is many donors are operating under the false perception that students with the greatest needs are those coming out of high school.  But…many ‘needy’ students are adults returning to school, single parents, and students who hope to transfer from community colleges into four-year institutions."  In a similar cord, Siu Lang Panoke, a graduate student at American University, writes about her experience funding her education as a single mother in her blog post, "Economic Status Should Not Hinder Higher Education" on Real Women, Real Voices, the National Women’s Editorial Forum’s blog.

Riane Eisler in AlterNet discusses in, "What’s a Mother’s Worth?" how women over the age of 65 are twice as poor as their male peers.  She writes, "There’s a reason poverty so disproportionately hits women. Most of these elderly poor women were, or still are, caregivers — and according to most economists, the people who do the caring work in households, whether female or male, are ‘economically inactive.’ Of course, anyone who has a mother knows that most caregivers work from dawn to dusk. And we also know that without their work of caring for children, the sick, the elderly, and maintaining a clean home environment there would be no workforce, no economy, nothing. Yet current economic indicators and policies fail to include this work as ‘productive work.’"  On our blog, we also discuss the financial issues surrounding women and retirement.

On May 11, Washington Grantmakers’ Children, Youth, and Families, and Health Working Groups hosted a funders’ briefing on regional children’s issues.  The Washington Grantmakers’ blog reports in "Lines on a Map But Real Barriers for Children, "Some of the challenges facing area children stem from the fact that while families can move within the region, governments stop at the borders. There are gaps in funding and services because state governments’ scopes are too narrow to address certain problems.  Through regional collaboration, Washington Grantmakers members have an opportunity to leverage resources and coordinate in a way that has proven difficult for area governments, and to make a difference in the lives of our region’s children."

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give and Take reports that, "Congressmen Issue Food-Stamp Challenge," to raise awareness about poor Americans.  "From May 15-21," explains the article, "four lawmakers are buying food based on the average food-stamp benefit, which is about $3 a day."  They’re blogging about their experience at the Congressional Food-Stamp Challenge site.

On Philanthropy and Nonprofit Capacity

Just as our recent Philanthropy Forum discussed the legacy of giving across families, so too is the Community Foundations of America examining best practices in family philanthropy in an essay, "Giving as a Family."

Generation change and nonprofit leadership has been a significant topic of conversation recently, fueled largely by the release of research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund indicating that leadership transitions from the Baby Boom generation to Generations X and Y will become more common within the nonprofit sector.  The report, Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations, offers recommendations on how a variety of stakeholders can improve the hand-off from this generation of leaders to the next.  On a similar note, the Initiative for Nonprofit Sector Careers examines the "missed connections" between nonprofits and new recruits out of college in its report, The Next Generation of Nonprofit Sector Leadership.

And that’s it for this week.  Enjoy catching up on the lastest news and views, and don’t forget to drop us–or the sites you visit–a comment or two about your thoughts! 

Enjoy your weekend! 

News and Views of Note: Week of May 7, 2007

Posted on by Lisa Kays

As I’m going to be out tomorrow morning for the 2007 Stepping Stones Research Briefing, this week’s News and Views of Note will be published a tad early.  Enjoy! 

See below for a round-up of what was news this week in the world of philanthropy, social change and women and girls in the Washington metropolitan region and beyond:

In Our Region

On Tuesday, the Washington Post featured an article by Pamela Constable called "For Some Muslim Wives, Abuse Knows No Borders" which documented how domestic violence is impacting some Muslim women in our region and provided information about organizations working to assist them.  Among those quoted was Mazna Hussain of the Tahirih Justice Center in Falls Church, a Grantee Partner.  For an additional perspective, Amal, who blogs at Improvisations: Arab Woman Progressive Voice, provided a post called "When the Battered Women are Muslim" and shared her views on how Islam has also been used as a tool to curb domestic violence.    

A worker’s center near Gaithersburg run by one of our Grantee Partners, CASA of Maryland, was the victim of arson last Friday.  Investigators have not yet assessed the motive behind this act, but CASA suspects that it is an act of backlash against the immigrant populations with whom CASA works.  "We see this as a natural consequence to the ongoing debate over immigration,” said Christy Swanson, program director for Casa of Maryland, in the Washington Post.  "We also consider it a hate crime.”   The fire and CASA were also discussed in an AlterNet article that described the event in the context of two other recent hate crimes against immigrants in Alabama and Washington, D.C.  The Women’s Foundation is proud to partner with CASA on their work on behalf of immigrant women in Maryland and extend our support as they work to repair the damage caused by the fire and continue with their important work. 

Capital Community News recently featured Grantee Partner Lydia’s House in an article, "Living in the Zone: Divine Inspiration Propels Ward 8 into Transformation," which describes the efforts of founder Patrice Sheppard and her husband, Pastor Eugene Sheppard, to bring additional business development and affordable housing to Ward 8 through the development of Trinity Plaza.  The article states: “When we first got here it was like the OK corral!” says Patrice.  "Today it’s obvious that the Sheppards’ efforts are transforming the appearance of the once infamous lot. The Zone is a highly visible building that adds a fresh, clean look against a strip of rundown store fronts and liquor marts."

On Philanthropy

Dollar Philanthropy’s Carol Kirshner spoke this week with Dr. Keith Taylor of the Modest Needs Foundation, raising a number of interesting issues and points around the meaning, potential and purpose of philanthropy, giving and compassion.  Taylor, who founded Modest Needs to provide small grants to individuals and families to prevent the downward spirol into poverty, discussed his perspectives on the cycle of poverty, economic security, donor involvement in philanthropy and re-defining the way people think about giving.  "Philanthropy is not just about empowering the individuals in need of compassion. It’s about empowering each of us to demonstrate meaningful compassion, as we can, with whatever we can afford to share.  And to me, that kind of empowerment, which tangibly affects both the donor and the recipient, is the only kind of power worth having."   

TIME magazine released its TIME 100–"the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world," and a special section of 12 Power Givers, which are summarized for easy reading by OnPhilanthropy, which also asks the fun question, who is missing and who shouldn’t have been included?  Prompting me to note, simply, that Oprah Winfrey seems an interesting omission from the power givers section, particularly this year when she opened her school and caused such a buzz.  What do you think?

Hispanic Business‘s article, "Building the Foundation" documents the deliberate movement behind the Destino Hispanic Legacy Fund and, by default, the rise of philanthropy "among Hispanics for Hispanics."  Locally, a similar effort is underway through the Washington, D.C. Hispanics in Philanthropy collaborative, of which The Women’s Foundation is a founding supporter.     

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give and Take is hosting a number of interesting discussions, including one asking whether diversity isn’t enough of a priority for foundations and another questioning the value of giving circles.  Then there is advice on the three quick steps to attract young people to charities.  I’ve no doubt that members of our community have a great deal to contribute to these ongoing debates and dialogues, and hope you’ll stop by and leave your two cents.  If you do, be sure to let us know!  

On Women and Work

The Huffington Post this week featured two interesting posts on the issue of women and work, including Jill Miller’s "Working Women Under Attack, Again," which documents her perspective on recent concerns about the future of the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and harkens back to those wage-gap issues that have been so oft-discussed of late.  Additionally, Maria Kefalas takes on Single Mama Drama and discusses the economic factors behind the "non-marital childbearing trend."

And that’s it for this week!  Don’t forget to drop us a line about your take on the news, the views or something we missed! 

See you next week, and happy Mother’s Day!