Daily Archives: February 17, 2017

In Jurez, Mexico, where cartels have left families mourning loved ones and women fending for their families, the Centro Santa Catalina provides opportunity for about 20 women to utilize various creative and management skills to help them generate a survival income.

When farms throughout Mexico started closing after the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect in the late 1990s, men migrated into the cities to find work.

"The men couldn't get jobs because they had a sixth-grade education and weren't used to living in the city," Dominican Sr. Maureen Gallagher said. "The women stayed at home with the children, and sometimes there wasn't enough money for food."

The "colonia" where the women live, Colonia Pnfilo Natera, is built on what was once the city's garbage dump, with homes constructed out of scrap materials; many lack electricity, water and basic city services. For most of these women, Centro Santa Catalina is their only source of income.

As the marketing director for the sewing cooperative across the border from El Paso, Texas, Gallagher helps the women sell their projects, including aprons, table runners, purses, shawls, laptop holders and "Mexican prayer flags." In addition to the sewing co-op, the center also provides tutoring, spirituality classes and a garden for the women to grow and share vegetables.

GSR: How did Centro Santa Catalina begin?

Gallagher: It was started by Sr. Donna Kustusch, an Adrian Dominican sister, and she started it in '96 or '97. She was a professor in the religion department at Sienna Heights College, and she had decided she had to walk the talk. She brought students down for immersion in Ciudad Jurez and later decided that's where she'd start her ministry helping economically poor women. That eventually led to a prayer group with some of the women, and from the prayer group, the center developed for women who were mostly migrants from the rural areas.

Sister Donna said, 'Aside from praying, what can we do to help you?' They said they really needed money, so they decided to start a co-op.

Sr. Maureen Gallagher, left, selling products the women at Centro Santa Catalina have sewn. (Provided photo)

The idea was that they would have a business and be able to stay in Mexico which is what they wanted to do and support their families and have a decent life. At this time, the co-op has its own president, vice president, secretary, and they make their own decisions. The only problem is with selling the products, because we have to sell them in the U.S., and the women don't speak English. And only five of them have visas, but they can only go 40 miles within the U.S.

I'm the marketing director, and [along with two other sisters] we help them find places where they can sell. If we have a place in El Paso, then women come and sell things themselves so they can learn the process. Right now, we're trying to make the co-op independent, so that they run the co-op, take care of all the money they get, and continue it on their own once we leave [ideally by 2020].

Tell me about other programs offered at the center.

In Juarez, there aren't enough schools for the children in elementary grades they go either in the morning or afternoon so we've trained 10 women to be tutors. The nice thing about that is most of them got their GEDs through the center; we paid for them to get it.

This past year, we hired a director the plan was for a Mexican woman to take over the center so that it would be owned and run by Mexicans. We hired a director, and through her intercession, we've been able to send the tutors to a class where they are now certified teacher aides, so if something should happen to us or to the center, they have a skill they can market.

We also have a youth program for teenagers, and we're starting a garden program, and the idea is that that eventually becomes a co-op for them to share vegetables.

We don't charge the families anything to send their children to tutors; it's a two-way thing. They're getting help with their homework, but they're also being kept off the streets while their parents are working.

All the money goes into a bank, and at the end of the month, they have to decide how much money they need for repairs, new products and materials. Then they share equally what's left over with the 18 women that make up the co-op. Average is $160 [U.S. dollars, per person] when you don't have a big sale, and that's really just for survival. As marketing director, I try to find more places for them to sell.

Two of the women work on sewing projects at the co-op. (Provided photo)

Tell me about the women you work with.

Juarez was a place where two cartels were fighting, and during that time, it was around 2010, every one of our women in the co-op had either a relative or a family member killed. It was total anarchy.

Many of them are battered women. One of our women in the co-op has four or five children and just left her husband. She had left him before, but she financially couldn't continue, so she invited him back. When the co-op started picking up and we were getting more money, she felt she could get rid of him again, so she kicked him out of the house. She had to get another job in a factory, so she works two jobs. He put her in the hospital five years ago because he beat her so badly.

Of the 18 women, I know three of them definitely can't read or write. One is now the vice president of the co-op and the mother of five children.

Another one who came to the co-op, Victoria, was there for a three-month trial period to see if she can sew. She couldn't do anything, but the women didn't want to let her go because she had no income. She was a widow, and her children had all moved back with their children and were really taking advantage of her. So the co-op hired her as the ironer, and she's the world's best ironer. She can't read or write, but the women try to help her. They have that community spirit of helping one another.

I've seen the women grow unbelievably. We went through a bad time at the center, when a woman got angry at our director, Rosa, because Rosa had bought heaters for the classrooms. This woman thought they should've gotten the money in their salary instead of the heaters, and a group of women had locked us out of the center.

But while we worked with the [El Paso and Juurez] dioceses and lawyers, the tutors and co-op members who didn't turn against us took it upon themselves to continue the center [for kindergarten classes]. They were able to find a house that they rented and got donations of chairs and tables from neighbors. When we came back to tell them what we had figured out, they said, 'Well, we have a house, and we're going to continue' [holding classes there until the end of the school year]. They could not have done that five years ago. We looked at them as they grew in confidence and authority and ability to take hold of their own lives, which is absolutely amazing and confirming that what the center had done was help these women grow.

How has this work changed you as a person?

It's helped me understand other people and other cultures. I had a hard time learning Spanish because I ministered for 40 years in Chicago, so my background had no different cultures it was just Chicago, Chicago, Chicago. But then I came down here, and I learned the Mexican culture is a beautiful culture, and I picked up many things, like hugging people that was not part of my background in Chicago.

I'm definitely a different person. I'm not quite as confident that I have all the answers. My background is teaching, and as teachers, we have a set way of doing things and think our way is the best way. I'm an Irish Catholic, Southside Chicagoan, and we have all the answers. But I've learned we don't.

Victoria irons the finished products to make them ready for sale. (Provided photo)

[Soli Salgado is a staff writer forGlobal Sisters Report. Her email address isssalgado@ncronline.org. Follow her on Twitter:@soli_salgado.]

Excerpt from:

Q & A with Sr. Maureen Gallagher, setting up financial independence paths for women in Mexico - Global Sisters Report (blog)

Kim Krushell got acrash course in money management as a little girl. It had nothing to do with her own piggy bank. She learned by witnessingthe struggles of her own mother and grandmother.

My mother went through a divorce. My stepdad got a lawyer and she got emotional, and financially it was really hard on her, Krushell recalled. It took her a lot of years to come back from that.

Krushell also saw her grandmother experience a divorce after 36 years of marriage.

I got to see what happens when her credit card was cut right in front of me as a kid.

As a result, Krushell is an equal partner in her household finances and has becomea passionate advocate for womens financial literacy.

Women unfortunately do live in more poverty. Women are more challenged with finances so we really do need that extra leg up, and need to have those conversations about what we need to do with our finances.

READ MORE: Why women need to plan their finances differently than men

Krushelland a group of dedicated volunteers have launched Women and Money, an initiative to educateCanadian women about finances; everything from buying a house to estate planning. In early February, Women and Money hosted a workshop to connect Edmonton women withfinancial experts. In the future, the group hopes to launch webinars and other events across the country.

Men take advantage of what the banks offer. They take advantage of a lot of free seminars and this is why my girlfriends who are in banking were saying, You know, we need to do something different. We need to reach out to women in a different way,' Krushell said. That is what Women and Money is really about.

2017Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Advocates say more women need financial independence: 'We really do need that extra leg up' - Globalnews.ca

Charles Kehoe Published 12:51 p.m. ET Feb. 16, 2017 | Updated 13 hours ago

Tom Keller(Photo: Provided)

Losing a spouse is one of lifes most emotionally-devastating events, and many financial advisors recommend not making major financial decisions during that first year of grieving. But after a period of time, financial decisions will need to be made.

Seventy percent of widows retain a new financial advisor within the first year of their spouses death, according to a Fidelity Investments survey. Why? For some women, the answer may be that the death of a spouse is a financial Independence Day a chance to finally make financial decisions on her own instead of agreeing to a husbands wishes.

Regardless of how widows feel about their familys past financial decisions, its predicted that women over the next few decades will inherit close to $30 trillion in intergenerational wealth transfers. Whether women act as partners in family financial decision-making or just go along for the ride, they need to educate themselves about money because women tend to outlive their husbands.

Here are five areas to address when a widow needs to begin effectively stewarding her financial portfolio:

Take an inventory of bills and create a plan to cover expenses for the first six to 12 months, limiting big decisions during this time. This allows for time to analyze the decisions that may eventually need to be made to develop new financial goals and objectives.

Review whether to stay in a current residence or move to a home requiring less maintenance and upkeep after one year has passed. This can be a difficult decision, since most widows choose to stay in the homes where their children grew up and their best memories will always be. Consider that just because a move may make economic sense, it may not be the best decision for the widow emotionally or for the long term.

Update ownership of all investments and the beneficiary list on retirement accounts. If assets outside of retirement accounts are owned, consider titling those assets in a living trust or transfer on death designation so beneficiaries will receive assets without going through probate court upon your own death someday. This step is often overlooked, yet it can save heirs time and money.

Re-evaluate your investment portfolio to match needs and risk tolerance. Widows may have a different level of risk compared to their spouses investment philosophy.

Work with a CPA or trusted family member during tax time the year after a spouse has passed. This is a good way to ensure that investments and insurance have been changed to the surviving spouse. Tax documents help confirm whether the assets have been moved and more important if an account was missed during the inventory phase. Sometimes widows are surprised by the number of open accounts. These can include investments, bank accounts and credit cards.

Whether a loved one has battled disease for a long period of time or was taken quickly doesnt matter when a widow is grieving. The length and depth of grief can vary significantly from one person to another, and its important not to begin making important financial decisions until a widow is emotionally strong and clear-minded enough to make decisions that she will not regret later.

Time helps heal our emotional losses as we adjust to a new life without a loved one, and the security of knowing you are making good financial decisions in the wake of a death will only make the transition smoother.

Tom Keller is a certified financial planner with Kehoe Financial Advisors of Cincinnati, a 35-year-old financial advising and services practice. Kehoe assists clients in developing and implementing financial strategies to help meet retirement, estate and business planning objectives, business continuation and succession planning. For more information, go to http://www.kehoe-financial.com or call (513) 481-8555.

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Surviving widowhood: Five tips to avoid financial hardship - Cincinnati.com

Sheroesfounded in 2014 has now gone on to become a career platform for women and has been built as a community for women to find diverse resources, opportunities and support related to their careers and aspirations. Sheroes Founder Sairee Chahal, a Woman Entrepreneur herself, is leading the way for many women as they plunge into the world of entrepreneurship.

The gap between the availability of smart, qualified individuals and organisations on the lookout for such candidates is not exclusive to females. However, couple that with research that says there are only 24% of women in Indias workforce of which a mere 5% are at senior levels and 48% drop out of workplaces and you have an almost alarming need to cater to the needs of women specifically.

Sheroes has done just that and also serves womens startup and operational requirements, We have moved the needle from women being pink content category to a real, professional network for women, says Sairee Chahal the founder of CEO. Sairee started her career at college and is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded SAITA Consulting in 2006. Her drive to create opportunities for women professionals, Workflex and Social Entrepreneurship led her to launch Sheroes.

Sairee quips, Lets face it, were still a patriarchal country so this is still early days even for a platform like ours.

Using the platform is simple, women log on to Sheroes and get a profile and dashboard and can use any of the services for free. Companies use the platform to build programs, hire or put their brands out which is also their monetisation model. With a user-base expanding of about 20000 locations, Sairee believes that organisations will have to design themselves to cater to the large pool of talent that is mostly a young workforce. Family-friendly policies, safer workplaces, progressive outlooks, breaking down of patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes will all have to be a part of the story that plays out.

Running as a consumer-tech platform, the biggest challenge that Sheroes faced was establishing itself as a category. If you went out four years ago and said women and careers everyone thought you were an NGO, Sairee says, adding that people often synonymised it with telling women to make papads or teaching them how to weave. There was nothing for the urban educated woman, she remarks, even now one of the most commonly asked questions she gets is if she runs this as CSR.

Having managed to bring a shift in the face of continuing invisible barriers, Sheroes has managed to raise a series A round of funding from Lumis Partners, HR Fund and Quint Media. Sairees suggestion to aspiring entrepreneurs is to stay persistent and not get into it for the sake of money but rather for being passionate about something. She adds, If you want to make money, go get a corporate job.

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Sheroes Founder Sairee Chahal ventures for Women's Financial Independence in India's sometimes Suffocating ... - Plunge Daily