Vanessa’s Story

The amazing thing about resilience is that we all experience the need for this important strength at one point or another in our lives. WRC builds this skill for women and girls in our community. We’d like to give you just one example, that of Vanessa* and her journey to resilience.

Two decades of marriage and building a life together came crumbling down for Vanessa while she was in her mid-50s. Self-employed with children in private school and college, her separation from her husband had severe repercussions. Finding herself very much alone and shattered financially and emotionally, Vanessa became aware of the Women’s Resource Center through a colleague and called our Helpline. She learned about our low-cost Family Law legal consultations with an attorney to discuss her options, and she was provided with WRC’s plain language Guide to Family Law in Pennsylvania. She also needed our counseling services and appropriate resources to help with all the changes the separation brought her.

Vanessa describes the Women’s Resource Center as a consistent pillar in her life. The services and programs of WRC were provided with no additional financial burden to her; she didn’t have to worry financially in order to get the counseling care she needed. Vanessa commented that there was only understanding, love and trust in the counseling, no judgment and no red tape.  She remarked, after completing one of our programs, “After all these years, I feel like I am finally learning and as a result slowly healing.”

Feeling helpless to feeling hopeful was the first step in Vanessa’s journey at WRC. Your contributions help us to bring Vanessa and women like her to a place of hope and renewed ability to take the next step, and the one after that.  That is a measure of resilience.

This past year, WRC helped 84 women through our Resource Coordination & Counseling program. We provided 1,052 counseling sessions, a 21% increase over last year. 922 women called our Helpline and 210 women accessed our low-cost Legal Consultations.  Another of our programs, Girls Lead, increased participation by 43% this past year with 233 girls.

Now during the uncertainty and drastic changes brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, the women coming to us have more layered and complex issues.  We have stepped up our support, providing more counseling sessions per client and hiring an additional counselor full time.

The future of WRC, of this kind of support, depends on you.  As a community resource, we depend on your donations to help continue these services.  Contributions can be made by clicking here. Thank you for thinking of the women and girls in need in the community, especially during this difficult time.

*Name changed to protect confidentiality