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recipients of disqualifying governmental assistance are referred to Wonienbocus for assistance.

Displaced homemakers whose plans include education and training enroll in appropriate course work. Many of the displaced homemakers attend Cuyahoga Community College which offers a wide selection of career programs such as hospitality management, health, dental, medical and dietetic technologies, nursing, data processing, business administration, graphies, engineering technologies, drafting, -accounting, clerical and real estate training.

Displaced homemakers also may enroll in other institutions which provide training not available at the College. Clients who have not graduated from high school are encouraged to prepare for general education development testing to attain their high school equivalency diplomas,

Financial aid is awarded from program monies to displaced homemakers who are determined to be f financially needy, and wish to enroll in credit or noncredit programs. Some clients, ineligible for college aid awards, need continued program aid to continue with their training and education.

Grants of up to $200 per year are also available for personal emergencies in order to assist participants to remain in the Program.

Internships are available to a few displaced homemakers who demonstrate need and the ability to benefit from them. Often the greatest obstacle a homemaker must overcome in breaking into the job market is her lack of recent paid work experience. Interns are hired at minimum wage to work for the displaced homemaker advisors and WomenFocus staff.

Interns work as clerical assistants, communication aides and recruiters. The duties of the clerical assistant include general office work and typing; the communication aide edits On Our Own, the Program's newsletter, develops and designs brochures and flyers. and writes news copy; and the recruiter works in the community as an outreach person.

Displaced homemakers are encouraged to enroll in The Job Search course which assists them to identify personal skills and interests which can be transferred into marketable skills, to write an appropriate resume, to learn and practice interviewing techniques including the information-gathering interview and other job seeking skills, and provides information about the Cleveland area job market.

The Program's Placement Officer assists clients to identify appropriate job openings and critiques their job-seeking techniques. She often forms support groups which meet to share job-seeking experiences and develop more effective employment strategies. The Placement Officer is responsible for client placement record-keeping.

During its first year over 360 women applied for admission to the Program; of these, about 90 percent attended orientation meetings and 40 percent have found full or part-time employment.

The Program serves a diverse and large urban population from most of the municipalities in the Cleveland area. Thirty percent of the participants are black. While the women come from various ethnic and class backgrounds, many are similar in other. respects. The typical displaced homemaker is a divorced woman in her forties whose children are grown. She has a high school diploma, is unemployed and is living on less than $3,600 per year. She has no health insurance and is not receiving regular health care.

Programs for displaced homemakers aim to help

women

become gainfully employed and selfsupporting by assuring that they will possess marketable skills, access to job placement service, the ability to be effective consumers, and the confidence and ability to manage their personal growth and maintain good physical and mental health.

Roslyn Talerico is Coordinator of Women's Programs at Cuyahoga Community College.

Clio's Musings

By Paula A. Copestick

The nation's first birth control clinic was opened on October 16, 1916 in Brownsville, New York by Margaret Sanger, her sister Ethel Byrne, and coworker Fania Mindell. Sanger's husband, J. Noah H. Slee, also supported the cause by lending his business sense and by smuggling German-made diaphragms (banned in the U.S.) across the border in his company's cartons. At the two-room, $50 per month clinic, women were charged ten cents apiece: "We talked plain talk and gave plain facts to about 500 women," reported Sanger. One of those women, however, was actually a police officer; several days after her visit, the crusading trio was arrested for distributing contraceptive information and the clinic was closed. Although Sanger and her co-workers received short jail terms, the publicity produced enough sympathy to assure the ultimate success of the birth control movement. Sanger, outraged by the police action, admitted, "We were not surprised at being arrested, but the shock and horror of it was that a woman, with a squad of five plain clothes men, conducted the raid and made the arrest. A woman-the irony of it!"

The first national women's rights convention was

held on October 23, 1850, in Worcester, Massachusetts. This convention, inspired by Lucy Stone, made suffrage a national issue for the first time. Over a thousand attended, including Lucretia Mott and Sojourner Truth. Among the speakers were Dr. Harriet K. Hunt, who spoke on medical education for women, and Antoinette L. Brown, who spoke on women's equality in the Bible. Another speaker, Abby Kelley Foster, is credited by Lucy Stone as earning "for all the right of free speech". Ms. Foster, a fiery abolitionist, lectured in public when it was still considered far beyond a woman's realm. Horrified clergy denounced her as a Jezebel, and her own Quakers disowned her. The impact of such women spread throughout the world. Susan B. Anthony is said to have read Lucy Stone's speech and immediately changed her emphasis from the antislavery movement to women's rights. Harriet Upton Taylor in Europe wrote a highly laudatory essay remarking that Englishwomen would soon follow the American feminist example.

Sherr, Lynn and Kazickas, Jurate. The American Woman's Gazetteer. New York: Bantam Books, June, 1976.

The Women's

Growth Cooperative

p.o. box 18087, cleveland heights, ohio 44118, 321-8582

FALL OFFERINGS

Personal Growth Group: An opportunity to share in a supportive environment experiences, problems, and the special dimensions of being a woman. Each woman will be encouraged to identify her strengths and goals and to use the group to do her persona! growing in the areas she chooses. The group will encourage an increasing awareness of self as an individual in interaction with others, provide an opportunity to get feedback and experiment with new behaviors. Ten Thursday evenings, 7:30-9:30, beginning October 4.

Divorce Support Groups: For women who are considering, are in the process of divorce, or recently divorced. We will focus on the emotional aspects common in divorce and develop practical steps toward independence. Six Thursday evenings, Tri-C Eastern Campus, 6-8 p.m.; six Thursday mornings, Tri-C Downtown Campus, 9:30-11:00 a.m. Groups begin Oct. 11. To register call Tri-C at 464-1450, Ext. 242.

Widows Group: A support group focusing on how to deal with loss and the transition to new beginnings. Six Monday afternoons, 2:00-3:00, Tri-C Eastern Campus, beginning Oct. 8. To register call Tri-C at 464-1450, Ext. 242.

Visual Mirrors: A Personal Growth-Art Experience for Women: Take a break from your usual vérbal and intellectual modes of communication and expression. This workshop offers the chance to use simple art materials in a context of structured exercises to enhance self-expression, self-discovery and pleasure. You will become acquainted with your unique visual imagery as a tool for deeper understanding and for problem-solving. Open to all women: the only criteria is the desire to participate and explore a new language of non-verbal images and ideas. Session A: Sat. Oct. 27, 10:00-4:00. Session B: Three Wednesday evenings, Nov. 7, 14, 21, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Feminist Forums: Monthly discussion of books, issues, ideas, and controversies of feminist concern. Forums will be held on Fri., Oct. 12 and Fri., Nov. 9, 8-10 p.m. at 2nd floor faculty lounge of Tomlinson Hall, Case Western Reserve University Campus (2nd building from the corner of Euclid Ave. on East Blvd., parking below.) Oct. topic: "A Sea Change"; Nov. topic: "Herland" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

To register for a group or workshop, please fill out the form below and mail to The Women's Growth Cooperative, P.O. Box 18087, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118.

Name

Address

Phone:

Day..

I would like to register for: Inclosed find check for $.. $5.00 required.)

Evening

(Minimum deposit of

Phone: 321-8582-If we are not available, please leave a message on our answering machine. We will return your call.

Location: Unless otherwise arranged, groups meet at our office, 2420 South Taylor, Cleveland Heights. Fees: Fees are based on a sliding scale depending on your income. A nonrefundable minimum deposit of $5 is required one week in advance to secure a place in a group. Your fees will be discussed when your registration is confirmned,

INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING

ALSO AVAILABLE

The staff members of the Women's Growth Cooperative are: Iris Bishop, Rita E. Coriell, Hetty Cowan, Pat Hoornstra, Mary Ann Huckabay, Merrily Kaplan, Wegi Louise, Wendy Passov, Donna Placido, Mickey Rosenshein. Guest Facilitators are: Amy Kraus, Charline Zimmerman,

October, 1979/What She Wants/Page 11