Group encourages women in pursuit of personal goals
(Excerpted from an article by Linda Reeves in the Florida Catholic March 18, 2005)
"Life is tough for women who cannot speak the language," said Yvette Rene, who moved to America in 1965 from her homeland of Haiti. "Many people go through a culture shock when they first come to the United States. Life is so different in America."

Five years ago, Rene agreed to help Sister Lorraine Ryan, a Medical Mission sister and parishioner of St. Thomas More, explore the possibilities of an outreach ministry focused on helping poor women of all cultures, faiths and circumstances pursue educational, employment, spiritual and personal goals.

“We went into the neighborhoods and from house to house asking women to tell us their needs,” said Rene.

Rene and Sister Ryan visited homes of the poor, Haitians, Spanish-speaking residents, African-Americans and Jamaicans in areas around South Palm Beach County.

“The needs are enormous,” said Sister Ryan, who moved to Florida in 1999 from India where she was a medical missionary serving the poor.

Sister Ryan, a native of Brooklyn who graduated from St. Louis University, The Catholic University of America and John Hopkins University, left her mission work and relocated to Boynton Beach to take care of her ailing mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and her father, who was stricken with Parkinson’s disease. “When I came to Florida, I wanted to go back out into the community and help like I did in India,” said Sister Ryan.

The house-to-house survey revealed that women of all cultures want to overcome neighborhood problems associated with drugs and crime, improved family life and provide safe havens for children. Those surveyed also indicated that the majority want to learn English, receive computer training and find help with job placement.

After the data were gathered, women in the communities were invited to come together, site around in a circle and discuss problems and needs with other women. From that gathering, the not-for-profit “The Women’s Circle” was born.

“I am learning to read,” said Agnes Dugazoa, a new South Florida resident from Haiti as she wrote phrases on a wallboard handing in front of a small language class. “I want to progress. I like the classes.”

Today, The Women’s Circle, based in a modest house in a low-income neighborhood in downtown Boynton Beach, is made possible through the efforts of Sister Ryan, volunteers, seminarians, part-time teachers and sister Joan Carusillo, a Holy Cross Sister. The nuns receive assistance from their religious communities to keep the ministry going, but get no pay for their work.

“I work at The Women’s Circle teaching English to beginners,” said Patrick Charles, a fourth-year seminarian at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. “The outreach is part of my formation. It is rewarding when you see people learning. Outreach is an important part of the church’s mission.”

“I teach them to write sentences and to say them in different ways to help them understand words,” said Pierre Valcena, a part-time teacher who conducts three language classes a week.

The women’s ministry currently serves 500 from many areas of Palm Beach County and offers computer classes, support-group sessions, counseling, health education and seminars, drug addiction prevention, job development and placement and English language classes. The center points women in the right direction for assistance in other areas not offered at the center, and to parishes and churches for spiritual guidance.

Programs
The Women's Circle structures its program into four, year-round programs.

Education classes include English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), basic and advanced literacy classes, computer training and other skills development classes, all of which are supported by on-site childcare services.

Job preparation programs include one-on-one counseling to address personal barriers to success, such as clothing, job etiquette, transportation, job placement and childcare.

Referrals are also provided to a network of community services.

Support groups unite women in open discussion and exploration of a variety of topics such as HIV/AIDS, general health maintenance and nutrition, domestic violence prevention, mental health and parenting, as presented by guest speakers/authorities in the respective fields.

Lastly, the community garden program provides a forum for neighbors of all ages and ethnicities to engage in a collaborative project that reduces and heals racial, ethnic, and religious misunderstandings, as well as provides nutritious fruits, vegetables and herbs.

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