Community

Can you imagine the world without women? The resiliency of women goes beyond giving birth to children; women have bounced back time and time again only to give life to some of the most pivotal moments in history.

Investing in women should be globally recognized not only as the right thing to do, but also the best thing to do. Significant evidence demonstrates that increases in women’s income lead to astonishing improvements in their families’ health, nutrition and education. Enhancing the lives of women is not only a goal in itself, but it is essential for economic development.

Recognizing the importance of women and the critical role they play in each of our lives, Norfolk State University and The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have partnered to form a valuable tool to serve the community; The WoMen’s Economic Development Center (WEDC).

The center will integrate many of the women activities on campus with the ultimate objective to serve the low income communities that surround the university. The capitalized letter “M” in the formal name of the center is a friendly indication that men are welcome to participate in the activities.

The initiative of the newly created WEDC is to increase women’s economic capacity. Our mission is simply to improve self reliance amongst women, particularly low income women, through education, entrepreneurship and technology.

The university is located in the heart of eight low income housing areas in the City of Norfolk. The barriers of education, skill level, child care, health disparities and the lack of funding make many everyday necessities (that many of us take for granted) like housing, employment, insurance, education, etc. virtually nonexistent for low-income women.

In 2008, there were 8,247 low-income household members in the City of Norfolk. Of that total number of households, 90% of them are headed by single women. This prompted the vision and establishment of the center. The need for and the importance of launching a WoMen’s Economic Development Center (WEDC), was to address the array of economic, educational, physical and overall public health of a vulnerable population; low-income women. The partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) made this initiative possible through a grant award earlier this year. This project was galvanized to remain academically and institutionally competitive and be a bridge for the underserved.

Women are crucial contributors to the overall public health of society; The NSU WoMen’s Economic Development Center (WEDC) proposes to create an innovative forum in aiding women, particularly, low income women to realize their full potential; serving as a one-stop resource facility that will coach, encourage and train participants as they maneuver through disjointed services and achieve economic independence.

Deirdre W. Sanderlin is the Director of the newly created WoMen’s Economic Development Center (WEDC) at Norfolk State University. Deirdre is an alumnus twice of Norfolk State University earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Urban Studies and a Masters of Arts Degree in Urban Education. She has completed post graduate coursework in Organizational Leadership and plans to complete her PhD in that area.

www.nsu.edu/womencenter.com