Northwestern Region

MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR WOMEN AWARD LUNCHEON A GREAT SUCCESS!

Soroptimist International of Everett’s Club celebrated the accomplishments and contributions of four local women and one local business on February 25, 2004 at the annual “Making a Difference for Women” awards luncheon.

Peggy Simmons, acting President for the Club presided over the Awards Program which was attended by 54 guests and members. Included in the audience were three elected officials, Snohomish County Sheriff, Rick Bart, Snohomish County Clerk, Pam Daniels, and Island County Auditor Suzanne Sinclair.

Members Kathy Northop and Monica Todd-Klopfer presented the following awards:

Women of Distinction: honors women who have made outstanding achievements in their professional, business or volunteer activities. Women of Distinction are ideal role models, having demonstrated exemplary character and integrity along with outstanding ability and demonstrated leadership. The 2003-2004 Women of Distinction Award was presented to Wendy Bart.

Wendy Bart is the Director of the North Snohomish County/Marysville YMCA and as such is heavily involved in our community. Her strong leadership has resulted in many Snohomish County families and children being provided the opportunity to succeed. Because of Wendy’s dedication to providing a safe, nurturing environment at the YMCA, hundreds of single mothers have adequate day care so they can work and provide support for their children. Wendy helped spearhead the YMCA Minority Achievers Program, is a graduate and past officer of Leadership Snohomish County and consistently is able to raise over $100,000 each year for the YMCA Children’s Campaign. As the Director of the Marysville YMCA, Wendy has quietly supported women’s issues through Snohomish County, promoting such organizations as Soroptimist and Zonta.

Women Helping Women: honors women who consistently and effectively use their resources, talents and influence to help other women achieve their potential. As a result, these women have helped eliminate economic, legal and social or political discrimination against women, and have contributed to the improvement of women’s status in society. Three local women were selected to receive the Women Helping Women award – Margaret Bruland, Marcia Glendenning, and Keri Mallams.

Margaret Bruland is the director of the Everett Center for Battered Women. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership and assistance to the hundreds of women and children victims of domestic violence who require shelter and assistance. Margaret has forged an outstanding relationship with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office, and as a result the Sheriff’s Office is now working to increase their Domestic Violence Unit. As Sheriff Bart wrote in his nominating letter of recommendation for Margaret, “General Grant once said during the civil war, when talking about the woman who ‘hounded’ him throughout the entire war to keep his military camps clean, and take better care of the wounded soldiers, “She Ranks Me!” Margaret is committed to affecting social change by working directly with battered women of domestic violence and their children. The Center for Battered Women is a private, non-profit organization serving Snohomish County since 1976. It is the only program in Snohomish County which provides emergency shelter and comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence and their children.

Marcia Glendenning is the director of Chemical Dependency Treatment Services for Catholic Community Services. She has made outstanding achievements in her work in the chemical dependency field in Snohomish County. She has worked tirelessly on grants and being proactive in the field, for the women she serves, and for the county.

One of Marcia’s most notable accomplishments has been her ability to empower the women with whom she works. Marcia played an instrumental role in forming a treatment provider partnership with the Snohomish County Alcohol and Other Drug Division. She also played a key role in spearheading gender specific treatment and a program for pregnant and parenting women at Catholic Community Services. This multi-faceted program, the Tree of Life, is not only still in operation, but expanding its housing component. Marcia is both visible and vocal in her work environment at Catholic Community Services, as well as in the professional community. She challenges others to the same high standards which she herself holds. She operates with vision and forward thinking, and does not sit on her laurels. Marcia has been known to say “Once you’re ripe, you’ve got to find a way to grow, or you rot”.

Kerri Mallams is the founder and executive director of Positive Women’s Network (PWN), based in Everett, Washington. PWN serves to connect women to health and social services in the Greater Puget Sound area. Nine yeas ago, Kerri responded to a need for HIV positive women. Since that time, Positive Women’s Network has become a non-profit, expanded its mission, and added outreach to connect women to free mammograms and yearly health exams, insurance and food stamp application assistance, and added a massage program for women with life-challenging illnesses. Kerri worked for over a three year period to establish a policy providing free HIV tests for low income women. While developing innovative new programs, Kerri successfully raises and manages a six figure budget and staff. She sensitively and creatively continues to expand PWN programs in response to the needs of women.

Advancing the Status of Women: recognizes businesses and organizations that have helped advance the status of women, and have used their positions to promote recognition of women’s issues. Examples of ways honorees have achieved these goals include: employment policies; scholarships and grants in support of women’s’ advocacy; initiation of programs dealing with women’s issues; and financial support of Soroptimist programs. The 2003-2004 Advancing the Status of Women award was presented to the Positive Women’s Network.

The Positive Women’s Network (PNW) is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization based in the Pacific Northwest that connects women and their families to health care, social services, and disease prevention programs. PWN was started by a small group of social and health care workers in 1996 to address the need for specialized services for women living with life-challenging illnesses. PWN supports clients by offering direct care and connections to other health and human services. Today PWN’s committed staff and volunteer serve thousands of women in the Greater Puget Sound area. The PWN connects uninsured women to mammograms; low-income women to food assistance; women with life-challenging illnesses to complementary therapies. Therapeutic Licensed Clinician (TLC) is a wellness program that provides information, support and referrals for women living with acute, chronic or life-challenging illnesses (such as cancer, lupus, HIV, fibromyalgia, etc). PWN helps women and families acc3ess health care, alternative therapies and social services. The PWN staff is experienced in making connections that reduce the stress and strain an illness has on the entire family.

Following the awards presentation, Vanessa Horning provided the audience with an overview of Soroptimist International of the Americas and the Program ended with the citing of our Soroptimist Pledge.

For more information on Soroptimist and Venture Awards and Scholarships click here.