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Voices of Success chime together, work toward success.

Local organizations join to empower women through education

Leah Gernetzke, Reporter

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

“Who are we not to succeed? We were born to manifest the greatness inside of us, and it’s not just in some of us, it’s in all of us.”

These words, delivered by Elizabeth “Libby” Burmaster and loosely borrowed from Nelson Mandela, encapsulated the tightly woven tapestry of narratives unraveled at “The Voices of Success.”

The event, hosted by Wisconsin Women Equals Prosperity Northwoods Regional Solutions Network, honored Burmaster’s investiture as the fifth president of Nicolet Area Technical College by raising money for the Displaced Homemakers Program scholarships, and by featuring the women who have benefitted from the program in the past.

The $20 contribution to attend “Voices of Success,” which covered desserts prepared by Nicolet culinary arts students, and a musical program by Nicolet graduate David Dall, all went toward the DPH scholarship fund.

Other fundraisers included a silent auction of themed baskets from local businesses and WW=P members. Dall also donated all of his CD profits from the night to the fund.

“Our goal was to give Libby an opportunity to meet and network with more members of the community while raising awareness of, and scholarship money for, the Displaced Homemakers Program,” Kris Adams Wendt, a WW=P Northwoods Regional Solutions Network member and a DHP advisory board member, said.

The program began in 1975 when Laurie Shields, a 55-year-old widow, and Tish Sommers, a 57-year-old divorcee, were unable to find work after years of working at home. They created Displaced Homemaker Network, which Wisconsin affiliated with in 1980.

According to the Nicolet College website, a displaced homemaker is an individual who has worked in the domestic sphere for a substantial number of years, but is no longer supported by a household member’s income on which they previously relied. The individual is also not eligible for public assistance, is the parent of one or more minor child and is not gainfully employed.

“Attending college at any time in your life requires serious dedication, goal setting and determination,” Sharon Gobert, coordinator of the DHP for the past seven years, said. “For the students in the Displaced Homemaker Program it can be even more challenging as they try to balance school, work and family, often as a single parent and just as often on a family income below the national poverty level.”

Anne Bonack, a 45-year-old parent of two teenagers, full-time student, intern and waitress, was one of these women. Bonack began the administrative assistant program three years ago and will graduate in December with an Associates Degree.

“I knew I needed a career, not a job,” she said during “Voices of Success.” “I feel so indebted to the college and the program; they took away a lot of my apprehensions about school.”

The DHP helps women like Bonack by advocating for educational and retraining opportunities so they can enter, or re-enter, the workforce. The program operates on grant funding, which provides services like career assessments, assistance with resume writing and job interviewing skills, enrollment in classes that are not financial aid fundable, practical classes like “stress management” or “personal finance,” personal counseling services, emergency car repair, gasoline assistance and aid for day care expenses.

“We are not a group of women who sit around and talk about everything that’s going wrong,” Wendt said. “We focus on what we can do to make a difference, and on solutions-based community action and networking.”

Networking has engendered not only strong individual relationships, but also closely interconnected organizations that ameliorate the economic disadvantages that displaced homemakers face.

“It’s a happy coincidence that half a dozen women are part of both WW=P and DHP,” Wendt said.

WW=P was first initiated by Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton in 2004 when the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) rated Wisconsin women’s status as a -C.

The research was based on four key areas: economic sufficiency, educational achievement, leadership and political participation, and health, safety and well-being.

Lawton divided the non-profit, non-partisan effort into 12 Regional Solutions Networks to establish practices that support raising the status of women in the four areas.

“We’re there to find needs or gaps, and fill those gaps,” Brenda Halminiak, the Northwoods WW=P RSN representative, said. “This event is a good example of how things come together.”

The Northwoods chapter of the network meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month in Rhinelander.

“We’re a loosely woven group in that there are no dues, no officers, no committee structure, though we are hooked into a statewide board of directors,” Wendt said. “We look for ways to made a difference to the Northwoods women, and the men who support them, while working together as a ‘committee of the whole.’”

It is this committee that has given the voices of success a platform to speak.

“You’ve heard the stories,” Wendt said. “Now it’s up to you to create the ending.”

Leah Gernetzke can be reached via email at lgernetzke@lakelandtimes.com.