Page 38 - BusinessWest October 27, 2021

for teen mothers, residential housing for women who are survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence, sexual- assault counselors who respond to
local hospitals when a woman has been raped, in-court counselors for domestic- violence survivors, a 24-hour hotline, workforce-development programs, and many others.
Programs take a forward-looking approach to immediate crises. For example, the Children Who Witness Violence program provides therapy to kids (ages 3 to 17) who have witnessed or experienced domestic violence. “We’re trying to change the paradigm so they don’t replicate what they saw — so we can change generations going
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Meanwhile, a financial-empowerment
program considers that the vast majority of victims of physical domestic violence are also victims of financial abuse. This fiscal-education program dovetails with the YWCA’s workforce- development programs in that they aim to cultivate independence for women down the road, and they are also open to the public, not just to those who enter through the Y’s crisis services.
The YWCA also visits college campuses to talk about domestic violence and sexual assault, both counseling students and teaching about awareness and intervention in the classrooms, with an eye toward
preventing those crisis situations to begin with.
Back on her own campus, Dineen finds satisfaction in seeing troubled lives change.
“I go into the shelter every day — it fuels me,” she said. “I particularly
like to see the kids because the kids
in the shelter are really happy. That surprised me, but it’s a little like camp — they’re around other kids — and they’re happy because they’re safe and they know their mom’s safe. You see a transformation within 24 hours; they come alive again.
“I can’t even imagine being a kid
and seeing my mother get abused like that,” she went on. “Especially the little
boys — you can see they’re very, very protective of their mothers. Some of them have said to me they feel bad they didn’t protect their mom. And I just keep saying, ‘you’re just a kid; it’s
The YWCA raised large amounts of money during that time, as individuals and organizations recognized those needs — including the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, which awarded $200,000, some of which was used to place women in hotels because the shelter was full.
“I’m so proud of my staff and my board of directors,” Dineen said. “Everyone realized, when the pandemic hit, that this community would need us now more than ever, and people just really stepped up. I’m proud that we could keep offering those services. We didn’t let the community down.”
Throughout all of that, she’s never forgotten the legacy she’s forged, of empowering women — some in crisis, some learning from her, some working beside her — to move forward in their own lives. “The thing that gives me the most joy and causes this 65-year-
Congratulations
Elizabeth Dineen
,
on being named a 2021 Woman of Impact
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“Everyone realized, when the pandemic hit, that this community would need us now more than ever, and people just really stepped up. I’m proud that we could keep offering those services. We didn’t let the community down.”
old Irish Catholic girl, who never cried before, to actually cry is seeing another woman succeed.”
That goes for the women of color who direct the YWCA’s programs, and are encouraged to continually advance their education and training.
“I keep saying to them, ‘you are
the future leaders of nonprofits of Western Mass. I want to be 80 years old, reading in the newspaper that you just got made a director or CEO of some organization.”
A four-decade career spent not only standing up for women, but helping them become advocates for others — that’s a real Woman of Impact. n
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
not your job. Your job is to do well in
school and then go outside and play
Dineen said she’s proud that all
YWCA programs continued — many virtually, but some in person, including the domestic-violence shelter, two teen residential programs, and the supportive-housing program — “and we kept COVID out the entire time, which was a miracle.”
At the same time, many needs . became more urgent. “So many
women were looking for help, saying, k ‘I’m trapped at home with my abuser.
How can I get out, how can you help me?’”
and scream and yell.’”
eShelter from the Storm While the pandemic threw the social-service world into disarray,
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