When women hear about the Homeless Women's Network, they often ask, "What can I do to help?"
We are developing a match-up service so that volunteers' skills can be coordinated with homeless and formerly homeless women's needs.
At this time, we are particularly interested in providing access to computer technology. By access we mean availability of hardware/software, a secure and friendly environment, respectful and sensitive instruction, and perhaps most difficult of all, an increased awareness of what access can offer.
A caseworker at a local transitional house for women told me, "To be honest, if I told my women that you wanted to teach them about the Internet, they would just roll their eyes. They've got kids to feed. They need a roof over their heads." We must have information that speaks to those needs, and we must be able to demonstrate that investing in this new skill makes sense.
This is new territory for many of us. Some formerly homeless women are using e-mail every day to stay in touch with friends and family, some have published poetry and short stories on the Web, some have used job banks and searched for educational opportunities tailored to their particular situation, a few are learning marketable Web design skills... We do have a small pool of success stories, but much work remains to be done.
If you have ideas about turning this vision into action, or know of potential volunteers, please send e-mail to femme2@scn.org. The resources on the Internet are growing, but so too, unfortunately, is the need.