Wonderful women

by Michael J. DeCicco

This Women's History Month, the South Coast celebrates women with numerous events, and by recognizing the accomplishments of women throughout the region.

Go to the Rotch Duff Jones House on March 15 for a discussion of prominent early women's advocate (and New Bedford native) Dr. Marie Equi, starting at 5:30. It's a hybrid talk by Aneshia Savino, a New Bedford High School graduate who earned her B.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and who curates the Marie Equi Zine Library.

According to the museum website, “Before Dr. Marie Equi became known for her labor and anti-war activism, and a life spent with and loving women, she grew up in New Bedford. This talk explores the city during a time when whaling fleets were shrinking and textile mills were on the rise. It will also reveal the radical roots of Equi’s fighting spirit.”

There is a suggested donation of $10. This talk will be held in person at the museum, and also on Zoom.

On April 20, you’ll find a belated Women’s History Month celebration at the Whaling Museum with "Reading American Landscapes: Women and the American Scene.” New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Chief Curator Naomi Slipp will discuss the museum’s current exhibition, "Re/Framing the View: Nineteenth-Century American Landscapes" that evening from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. (for the reception); 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (for the lecture). Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for non-members.

According to the museum website, Slipp “will discuss how women of the nineteenth century were faced with limited opportunities presented during their lifetimes, but how some carved out successful careers as professional artists painting landscapes and still lifes... Most of them also balanced the demands of motherhood, caregiving, or domestic labor.”

Investing in women

For a contemporary context to what the March celebration means, note what women today are doing in the name of their growing empowerment.

Women's Fund South Coast, Inc. (WFSC) in New Bedford has been financially supporting women around the South Coast for the past 22 years.

Its Women’s History Month event will be an “International Women’s Day” program on March 8, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church in New Bedford “to celebrate 50 years of the local Women’s Movement.”

The Fund began in 2000 when a donor established a permanent fund at the Community Foundation South Coast to provide philanthropic dollars to programs and organizations supporting women and girls in the region, said Assistant Director for Development Makenzie Lennington. That donor, retired Judge Bettina Borders, had long been involved with the education, finances, and safety of women and girls, Lennington noted. “She was aware of the need for thoughtful philanthropy earmarked for women and girls, as less than 1.9 percent of all philanthropic dollars were for such initiatives.”

The Fund incorporated in 2020. Since then, the WFSC has continued to deepen its philanthropic reach, Lennington said. “We partner with regional non-profit organizations to fund life-changing grants so that women and girls can achieve greater access and opportunity. Our shared experiences as mothers, daughters, friends, and partners allow us to state resoundingly that every woman is entitled to a life with dignity, respect, and opportunities to thrive. Through the generosity of donors and local corporate supporters who believe in supporting its mission to make the SouthCoast a true place of equity for women and girls, we have been able to grow and continue this much-needed work.”

As a result, over $150,000 in funding has been awarded to at least 15 different entities since the Fund was incorporated. Its biggest success stories have included The LifeWork project, a five-year visionary program conceived by the WFSC to assist low-income women “to achieve a better life for themselves and their children. It's now an integral part of the Bristol Community College Women's Center,” Lennington boasts.

“Initially,” Lennington said, “20 women participated in the project, and all attained improved outcomes for themselves and their children. The Bristol Community College Women's Center has since adopted the LifeWork project and re-imagined it as the Parenting Advancement Pathways Program.”

Community Economic Development Center leader Mujeres Victoriosas said the fund has helped immigrant women and mothers from Central America. A grant provides a lead facilitator and community outreach coordinators to address barriers immigrant women face, such as language, lack of formal education, and legal immigration status.

“Girls on the Run,” also funded by WFSC, is an after-school program that challenges young girls to embrace their inner strength, gain confidence, and foster care and compassion for others through the physical challenge of running.

The “Sacred Birthing Project” is a volunteer effort to encourage better birth outcomes by providing practical support to women during pregnancy and up to one year after their child’s birth. It helps women find the emotional freedom necessary to identify and use the resources to care for themselves and their families.

“The successful ‘her-story’ of grantmaking by the WFSC is a testament to the need for this philanthropy,” Lennington said. “The Fund is still small but poised to continue to grow to enhance the lives of women and girls in our region.”

Sharing stories

Working on a larger scale to empower women around the state in 2023 is the statehouse itself, State Representative Carole Fiola said. She is proud to note that today, all but one of the state's elected Constitutional Officers are women:

Governor Healy, Lt. Governor Driscoll, Attorney General Campbell, Treasurer Goldberg and Auditor Dizoglio (Bill Galvin continues to serve as Secretary of State).

“I was the 183rd woman elected to the state legislature in 2013,” she said. "Today, there have been 233 women severely unhealthy coping habits, and struggle academically. “Unfortunately, I didn't know the warning signs of abuse,” she says on her website page. “I lacked a voice and even my own identity. Soon, I was in another abusive relationship. This one was so damaging that I became homeless, penniless, and was forced to drop out of college by my abuser. I only finally escaped after I was severely physically attacked.” legislators who have served versus over 20,000 men. We represent half of the state's population. So why wouldn't we be in half of all leadership roles? What's happening across the state is a positive sign and we will keep working on growing our numbers… but we still have a little way to catch up."

She was a volunteer at the local women's center when she was first asked to give a presentation on her experiences. She was terrified to give that first talk on what she’d been through. Then she realized that sharing her story made her feel less alone, and it became her calling in life. Now she makes 75 to 100 presentations per year at schools, organizations, and conferences all across the United States, from Massachusetts to California.

That's where someone like Ashley Benediksen comes in to address women empowerment on a personal level. The motivational speaker and New Bedford native knows what women seeking empowerment should do. And she’s done it, successfully, in her personal life and her business across the country for 15 years. The bulk of her speaking presentations, she said, are to young people, giving them what she wishes she would have known when she was young on the topic of empowering yourself by avoiding abusive relationships.

At just 14, she experienced dating violence and sexual abuse by her very first boyfriend, which began a cycle of abusive relationships and trauma that led her to struggle with her self-worth, choose

Benediksen is heartened by the immediate impact she can have on others’ lives. “A middle school student disclosed to me that she had been sexually abused by an older male,” she said. “Later, she came to me and said she had reported him and was bringing him to justice. She said I gave her the inspiration and strength to do that. Every time I make a speech, someone will either disclose their own experience or say they told people about their abuse after hearing my story.”

Benedkisen said that what she provides is a mix of education and her own personal experience. “I offer the red flags, what to look out for. How to build a sense of personal agency. Some people feel trapped. But there are resources out there to help everyone. You're the first priority in your life. Putting others first is at the cost of ourselves. I help them understand how to begin to shift from providing for and pleasing everyone else before providing for yourself.”

She elaborated, “Women carry a lot of limiting beliefs. We also tend to minimize our own needs. Introspection and self-awareness are step one, and from there we can see our bad patterns and see how we can change them. After that, every little change we see in our lives is empowering. You see a little change in everything you try.”