On Our Minds, December 1976

TOWSON STATE UNIVERSilY BALTIMORE, MD, VOL, 3.1 NO, 2 DEC, 1976 MARYLAND COMMISSION FOR WOMEN on our minds a women's newsletter AROUND TOWN Established by Executive Order in 1965 and made permanent by statute in 1971, the Maryland Commission for Women (formerly known as the Maryland Commission on the Status of Women) is devoted to expanding opportunities for women and to eliminating those barriers which prevent women from reaching their full potential. In furtherance of these goals, the MCW serves as a clearinghouse for women's activities throughout the State, recommending methods of enhancing the status of women, promoting experiences which will help individual women reach their full potential, and giving recognition to the contributions of women in Maryland. Recent MCW emphasis has been on legal rights, education, and employment; future plans focus on social services (housing and credit, pensions and insurance, crisis shelters, child care) as well as continued efforts to eradicate sexism in education and career counseling, to increase the presence of women at policy-making levels of business and government, and to provide mechanisms for women's mutual support in pursuit of the goal of equal status. For further information on MCW, or to volunteer to serve on a task force, contact Elaine Newman, Executive Director, MCW, 1100 N. Eutaw Street, Baltimore, 21201 (phone 383-5608). CENTER FOR DISPLACED HOMEMAKERS October 28, 1976, marked the opening of the Center for Displaced Homemakers at 2435 Maryland Avenue, Baltimore (phone 243-5000). Established as a pilot program by Act of the Maryland General Assembly in the 1976 legislative session, the Center offers counseling, workshops, job training, and referral services to displaced homemakers. The law establishing the Center defines a displaced homemaker as a person over 35 who has been primarily a homemaker in the home of his/her own family and not gainfully employed, and who has lost the family income upon which she/he depended by reason of separation, divorce, or the death or disability of the family-income earner, or who has depended upon government assistance as the parent of dependent children and is no longer eligible for such assistance. Comprehensive counseling and training for displaced homemakers will include not only job-related workshops and services, but also will cover health, legal, financial, and social adjustment. The programs of the Center are aimed at helping the displaced homemaker to become self-sufficient and productive.