The Women's Center Statement of Intent and Services

The Women's Center

The goal of the Women's Center in Chapel Hill is to empower women to address and overcome the economic and social obstacles they face and to work toward realizing their potential.

The Center's assistance is sought by women of its own county, Orange, and its surrounding counties, especially Chatham, Alamance, Durham, and Person. It is the only center for women offering diverse support services within this large, 2200-square-mile, essentially rural area of central North Carolina with its population of 45,300 people.

Incorporated in 1982, the Center provides a variety of in-house services including:

Legal Information Service:

A free fifteen minute phone consultation with a volunteer attorney; regularly scheduled Domestic Law Clinics; publication of Family Law in Orange County, a 55-page booklet detailing all aspects of the divorce process; and a listing of local attorneys including their backgrounds, specialties and fees.

Financial Counseling:

On-site financial counseling and debt management provided by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

Career/Vocational Counseling:

One-on-one career and vocational couseling. Series of workshops employing assessment tools such as the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Strong Interest Inventory. Periodic Job Hunters' Support Groups.

Educational Counseling:

On-site advice and assistance with choosing and financing an educational and/or vocational program from an Educational Opportunity Center counselor. Testing Available: Self-Directed Search.

Personal Counseling:

Trained volunteers provide up to five free counseling sessions for women in stress, transition or crisis. Each volunteer is under the monthly supervision of a therapist.

Shared Housing Service:

Through a Shared Housing Board and regular housing workshops, we connect seekers and providers of housing.

We are often the first line of contact for women in crisis. We respond annually to over 1000 personal calls for information and referral and hundreds from other area agencies. We produce the Triangle Women's Resource List, a guide to services and resources for area women. We maintain up-to-date notebooks on job listings, health care resources, attorneys, therapists, and lesbian resources. Throughout the year we provide around 150 workshops and support groups addressing the specific interests and needs of women. One of our more widely recognized programs, Goodbye Cinderella, is aimed at improving the self-esteem of at-risk 10-to-12 year old girls who are referred to us.

With a staff of two, plus a 3/4 time development officer, and a budget of $95,000, the Center utilizes every community resource it knows to tap, and mobilized a corps of 500 volunteers throughout the year, in its effeorts to respond to an average of 9400 client contacts/requests. Over 930 women utilize our counseling services each year and over 1300 women a year participate in our workshops and support groups. Another 700 utilized our Shared Housing Board.

The Women's Center celebrates the diversity, strength and talent of the women in this area. We strive to overcome the barriers of race, age, gender, income, sexual orientation, and education level in the hope that women can learn from each other in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance.

The Women's Center's programs are funded in part by the United Way of Greater Orange County, the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and Orange County.

The Center is also dependent on individual contributions, membership dues, program fees and fundraising events to cover operating expenses.

All Women's Center programs and services are either free or available on a sliding scale basis. While program fees cover costs, no one will be turned away because of inability to pay.

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