Womens work Hudson Valley NY

About a year ago, I heard about a program called Women’s Work, which through funding by the United Way, provides career development to women who are heads of household and who have experienced a significant change in income as a result of a change in job status, the death of spouse, the catastrophic illness of a family member or divorce.

I reached out to then-director of the program Shannon Wong. She and I bonded instantly over the push and pull we both feel wanting to be home taking care of our kids, but also wanting to have careers and take care of ourselves.

I took copious notes as she spoke passionately and articulately about the women with whom she worked in the Women’s Work program. She spoke of women who “mommy-tracked” and women who chose part-time work. She spoke of women who had chosen career paths that didn’t permit that kind of flexibility — who either found completely new lines of work or left the paid job market entirely.

Unpaid on the home front

These women made these choices so they could better focus on unpaid work — taking care of the home front, being accessible to their children, and supporting their spouses — as their husbands excelled in their careers doing the paid work and supporting the families financially.

She spoke of women who made the very same choices she and I both made.

And then she told me about some of the horrible experiences these women were going through financially as a result of changes to their families. It was heart-wrenching.

And it was terrifying — knowing that their choices, Shannon’s and my choices, to leave successful paid careers to do what was once was in the best interest of their families, now left these women unable to support themselves and their families.

Fortunately, through financial support from the United Way and the collaborative effort of many dedicated individuals from the YWCA, Jewish Family Services, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Regional Economic Community Action Program, Women’s Work helps these women develop the necessary skills to increase their salaries and regain economic independence.

On the legislative front

And though Shannon Wong is no longer the director of the program, she is still helping the women in the Women’s Work program. Until a few weeks ago, she was working in Albany on legislative reform to support women whose “significant change in household income” was due to a divorce — many of the women enrolled in the Women’s Work program.

Her main agenda was establishing guidelines for maintenance (alimony) in New York state. While in Albany, Wong helped pass temporary guidelines, so the spouse who continues to work full-throttle in the paid labor market, reaping the financial benefits of having a spouse doing the unpaid work at home, will be mandated to pay maintenance.

To work on the legislation, Shannon had to sleep in Albany some nights. It’s something one would imagine could be hard on a child who is used to having her mom home most of the time. And yet it is the significance of the policy change on which Shannon’s 11-year-old daughter focused, recently thanking Shannon for undertaking this effort, – “because someday I am going to be a woman too.”

For more information on Women’s Work, call Grace Swanson at the YWCA at 561-8050, ext. 23.

Allison Berman, an artist and mother of two, handpaints custom accessories for interior designers and private customers. View her collection at www.withlovealib.com. She can be reached at info@withlovealib.com. Her column appears Sundays.