Frustrating Catch 22 in Graphene Based Molecular Devices Solved – SciTechDaily

Posted on by

The researchers produced an electrically effective structure by building a graphene-like molecule stack to form an electron path through the graphene-like molecules P orbitals (these are dumbbell-shaped electron clouds within which an electron can be found, within a certain degree of probability) This would open new avenues to use fascinating molecular properties such as quantum interference which occurs at such a small scale provided a sufficiently mechanical robust structures achieved. For this, the research team also created bonds between each molecule and a silicon-oxide substrate. This gave the structure significant mechanical stability by effectively anchoring the graphene-like molecule stack to the substrate using a silanization reaction. Credit: University of Warwick

The conductivity of Graphene has made it a target for many researchers seeking to exploit it to create molecular-scale devices and now a research team jointly led by University of Warwick and EMPA have found a way past a frustrating catch 22 issue of stability and reproducibility that meant that graphene-based junctions were either mechanically stable or electrically stable but not both at the same time.

Graphene and graphene-like molecules were an attractive choice as an electronic component in molecular devices, but up till now it has proven very challenging to use them in large scale production of molecular devices that will work and be robust at room temperatures. In a joint effort research teams from the University of Warwick, EMPA and Lancaster and Bern Universities have reached both electrical and mechanical stability in graphene-based junctions million times smaller than diameter of human hair. They published their findings in a paper entitled Robust graphene-based molecular devices in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Simple mechanically stable structures such as graphene-like molecules are easy to produce by chemical synthesis but at this very small scale these are subject to a range of limits when they placed in a junction to form an electronic device such as variations in molecule electrode interface. The researchers overcome these limits by separating the requirements for mechanical and electronic stability at the molecular level.

They produced an electrically effective structure by building a graphene-like molecule stack to form an electron path through the graphene-like molecules P orbitals (these are dumbbell-shaped electron clouds within which an electron can be found, within a certain degree of probability) This would open new avenues to use fascinating molecular properties such as quantum interference which occurs at such a small scale provided a sufficiently mechanical robust structures achieved. For this, the research team also created bonds between each molecule and a silicon-oxide substrate. This gave the structure significant mechanical stability by effectively anchoring the graphene-like molecule stack to the substrate using a silanization reaction.

Dr Hatef Sadeghi from the University of Warwicks School of Engineering who led the theoretical modeling of this work said:

This method allowed us to design and produce graphene-based molecular devices that are electronically and mechanically stable over a large temperature range. This was achieved by decoupling the mechanical anchoring from the electronic pathways by combining a covalent binding of the molecules to the substrate and large -conjugated head groups. The junctions were reproducible over several devices and operated from 20 Kelvin up to room temperature. Our approach represents a simple but powerful strategy for the future integration of molecule-based functions into stable and controllable nanoelectronic devices.

Reference: Robust graphene-based molecular devices by Maria El Abbassi, Sara Sangtarash, Xunshan Liu, Mickael Lucien Perrin, Oliver Braun, Colin Lambert, Herre Sjoerd Jan van der Zant, Shlomo Yitzchaik, Silvio Decurtins, Shi-Xia Liu, Hatef Sadeghi and & Michel Calame, 16 September 2019, Nature Nanotechnology.DOI: 10.1038/s41565-019-0533-8

Visit link:

Frustrating Catch 22 in Graphene Based Molecular Devices Solved - SciTechDaily

This Anti-baldness Hat Is Powered by the Users Movements – Science Times

Posted on by

Staff ReporterSep 21, 2019 12:24 PM EDT

(Photo : Sam Million-Weaver from the University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Baldness is no doubt something no one wants to have, whether for health or aesthetic reasons. But with most people's luck, about 147 million people worldwide are affected by alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease causing hair loss on various parts of the body, usually on the scalp.

To address this widespread problem, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison detailed in an issue of ACS Nano how they came up with a noninvasive approach. The team has integrated an anti-baldness device into a simple hat. Doing so, the device cannot be seen while doing its job. And because the device is powered by the movement of the user, a battery pack or a complex electronic control system is not required.

The device uses nanogenerators-which are what they sound like, small generators-that gather energy from the movements of the user and transmit them to gentle, low-frequency electrical pulses that stimulate and reactivate dormant hair follicles. The researchers say that the gentleness of the pulses does not even penetrate the scalp past the outermost layer. Because of the gentle nature of the electrical stimulation, this is particularly effective in early cases of pattern baldness. However, it can no longer help with advanced cases that are evident when the skin has already gone smooth, as University of Wisconsin-Madison materials science and engineering professor, Xudong Wang explained. "Electric stimulations can help many different body functions," he said. "But before our work, there was no really good solution for low-profile devices that provide gentle but effective stimulations."

(Photo : Alex Holloway from the University of Wisconsin-Madison)

When the team tested their device on Sprague-Dawley rats, they found that it resulted to a higher follicle density and longer hair shaft, while comparing the results with those of conventional medical treatments. A different set of results were from tests on genetically defective nude mice that showed how the device could improve a couple of factors that sequentially caused the increase in number of hair follicles and promoted hair regeneration.

The researchers claim that the device does not cause any side effects-a major advantage over existing medical treatment methods for baldness that cause major side effects like sexual dysfunction, depression, and anxiety. "It's a self-activated system, very simple and easy to use. The energy is very low so it will cause minimal side effects," said Wang. "I think this will be a very practical solution to hair regeneration." The team plans to execute clinical trials on humans soon.

Visit link:

This Anti-baldness Hat Is Powered by the Users Movements - Science Times

Biomedical Nanotechnology Market Emerging Trends, Opportunities and Challenges To 2026| Bruker Corporation, ELITech Group, Genefluidics, Hybrid…

Posted on by

The study is a professional probe into the revenue generated and capacity estimates for the Biomedical Nanotechnology market for the forecast period 2019 2026 empower the business owners to maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The research further examines and provides data on the market by type, application and geography interspersed with illustrations and other graphical representations.

The market analysis not only determines the attractiveness of the industry but also the evolving challenges and opportunities and their association with the weaknesses and strengths of prominent market leaders.

Request FREE Sample Copy @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/9845

The major manufacturers covered in this report

Most important types of Biomedical Nanotechnology products covered in this report are:

Most widely used downstream fields of Biomedical Nanotechnology market covered in this report are:

Buy This Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/9845

A complete insight into the reportThe latest market research report titled Biomedical Nanotechnology offers a detailed evaluation of the market situation within a specific geographic region. This Biomedical Nanotechnology study contains vital data on market shifts owing to social, economic, cultural and technological changes worldwide. Explaining market opportunities remains the key focus of the study. Industry experts analyzing the business environment also take a closer look at the organizational alignment as well as the capital structure.Knowing the trends influencing the industry performanceStakeholders, marketing executives and business owners planning to refer a market research report can use this study to design their offerings and understand how competitors attract their potential customers and manage their supply and distribution channels. When tracking the trends researchers have made a conscious effort to analyze and interpret the consumer behaviour. Besides, the research helps product owners to understand the changes in culture, target market as well as brands so they can draw the attention of the potential customers more effectively.

Our trend analysts look for the crucial connection between consumer trends, behaviour and values, to provide context for the sectors, demographics and global themes that matter to you.

The report provides answers to the questions below:

To conclude the status of import and export, supply chain management, distribution channels, production volume, production capacity, product price, profit, sale and others elements are covered in the report.

You can get free access to the sample according to the report @https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/9845

Link:

Biomedical Nanotechnology Market Emerging Trends, Opportunities and Challenges To 2026| Bruker Corporation, ELITech Group, Genefluidics, Hybrid...

Quantum Dots: IDTechEx Research Analyses Changing and Expanding Application Landscape – PRNewswire

Posted on by

BOSTON, Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Quantum dots (QD) are a successful example of nanotechnology. IDTechEx Research expect that QDs will be used in over 7 Msqm of displays in 2019 (for exact forecasts consult the report). The current dominant method of QD integration in displays is the film-type. This is a non-ideal solution designed as a workaround to current material shortcomings. However, as the QD material system expands, new methods of integration as well as new applications beyond displays will become enabled.

In this article, IDTechEx Research will briefly outline some of the key material development trends. This article will touch on different materials compositions and different applications. This analysis is drawn from the IDTechEx report "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2019-2029: Trends, Markets, Players" (www.IDTechEx.com/QD). This report provides detailed technology analysis of quantum dots, detailed technology roadmaps and timelines, complete overviews of key players in the industry, and market forecasts segmented by 11 application areas at the component as well as material levels. It gives you the complete detailed view of the QD technology, competitive and market landscape.

InP: successful successor

The InP chemistry is already a successful commercialized alternative to Cd based QDs. It has significantly narrowed down the FWHM, bringing it to the 38-42nm levels for commercial samples. The rate at which the FWHM is narrowed has however plateaued, and today every nm reduction in FWHM has become challenging, especially in volume production. The quantum yield (QY) has also improved, largely bridging the gap with Cd QDs.

InP QDs however still fall short on multiple parameters. The blue absorbance of the green InP QDs is still too low, by a factor of 2, compared to Cd-based QDs. This complicates efforts to achieve QD color filters (QDCFs). This is because the loading in the resist and/or layer thickness will have to be increased to compensate for this material shortcoming. Improving this is an area of ongoing effort.

Improvement of stability is also an on-going area of development. Today, red Cd-based QDs with silica shelling have reached sufficient heat and photostability to be used on-chip for mid-power LED lighting applications as a near drop-in replacement solution. These red QDs enable boosting lm/W and CRI simultaneously to levels beyond those accessible by current inorganic phosphors. InP QDs, however, are yet to reach this level of stability, suggesting that there is still opportunity for further material development.

Furthermore, champion results suggest that EQE for electroluminescent of red and green Cd-based devices is approaching phosphorescent OLED materials. The EQE of leading InP however is still lagging behind. The red and green have already exceeded 17% and 13%, respectively. However, the best blue is still someway below (champion results are 9% or so). The more critical challenge however is to do with lifetime and luminance. In both fronts, significant development efforts remain.

In general, important material development opportunities exist in QLED (quantum dot LEDs), and not just in the QD itself but in the entire stack of materials. A key challenge is maintaining good charge balance in the device. ZnO and other metal oxide nanoparticles are now commonly reported as a suitable electron transport layers (ETL). However, the research for an optimal hole injection layer continues. In general, it is difficult to find material with sufficiently deep valence bands. Therefore, hole injection lags electron injection, leading to charge imbalance and all the subsequent adverse effects on device performance. The QD material itself is being actively researched. Graded alloyed structure are popular as they eliminate abrupt internal interface, leading to better stability. Better shelling procedures are needed even for red and green QDs. The material composition is also changing, partly to enable between band alignment with the stack materials. The choice of the non-toxic blue material is also still an open question with some companies developing even alternatives to InP QDs targeting high efficiency at the right wavelength (InP currently falls short on the metric).

Clearly there is a long road from demonstration of champion high-performance small-sized spin-coated devices to actually large-sized RGB patterned (e.g., inkjet printed ones). The technology development will take time, even though the industry has extensive accumulated knowhow in the use of inkjet printing in OLED displays for the active materials and the organics in the thin film encapsulation.

To learn more about these material development trends, opportunities, and challenges please consult "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2019-2029: Trends, Markets, Players".

Perovskites

Perovskite quantum dots (PeQDs) are a promising material option. Despite their relative youth, they have made tremendous progress. Today, the green inorganic PeQDs are inching towards sufficient stability for use in enhancement mode films. Many demonstrators now exist. Some are even developing in-situ polymerization of fluoropolymer (PVDF) films together with PeQDs to drive down cost. The green PeQDs however are not as stable as alternative and still require high-performance encapsulation (1e-3 to 1e-4 g/day/sqm), a performance level that was required for other QD material systems years ago.

The key proposition of PeQDs is that the material is intrinsically more tolerant of defects as many defect's energy levels reside outside the bandgap, thus no corrupting the optical properties. This means that PeQDs, formed at low temperature and even without shells, can achieve 18-20nm FWHMs and excellent quantum yields (QYs), even in some cases beating best-in-class Cd-based QDs. The reds, however, are still lacking in stability and are not ready even for sampling. Here, the debate about the origin of the instability and the remedying procedures are actively underway in the scientific community.

Given the instability of the red, green PeQD films are proposed as hybrids, used in conjunction with (a) narrowband KSF red phosphors, (b) red and blue LEDs, or (c) other QD material systems. Option (a) can suffer from long decays, thus potentially limiting display response time; option (b) adds extra complexity, especially in terms of drive electronics and the management of differential aging; while option (c) plays to the strength of each QD material system but might require special resin formulations.

Green PeQDs also offer high blue absorbance. This is a feature on which green InP QDs still fall short. This characteristic is critical for ensuring color purity in QDCF implementation, be in an OLED or an LCD display. Preliminary results suggest that PeQDs can be used in CFs although ensuring that PeQDs survive the patterning process, be it inkjet or photolithography, is a challenge. It is not unreasonable to assume that in time efforts will overcome these challenges, however. What might be riskier though is the presence of lead. In enhancement film, the lead concentration likely falls below the limit. In color filters, however, it might exceed the threshold. Lead-free alternatives do not perform nearly as well despite efforts even to leverage AI to find optimal alternatives. In any case, display makers still invest in development efforts given the potential and are considering workarounds such as the use of hybrid arrangements. To learn more about PeQDs and other QD technologies, development trends, applications, players and market forecasts please visit "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2019-2029: Trends, Markets, Players".

Lead sulphide

Lead sulphide QDs are emerging as a popular choice for sensing and some color conversion applications. In sensors, the proposition is that lead sulphide QDs allow accessing a wide range of the IR spectrum beyond what silicon sensors can access. Furthermore, they can be spin coated onto silicon read-out circuits (ROICs). As such, they can enable high-resolution monolithically-integrated silicon-based IR or SWIR (short wave IR) sensors. The applications for SWIR are numerous, ranging from silicon wafer inspection to AR/VR glass to night vision or lidar photodetector in autonomous mobility.

Major consumer electronic firms have spent years building up their technology access and value chain on QD-Si hybrid Si image sensors. Indeed, until very recently, it was believed that a major US consumer electronics firm was using a UK QD company as essentially a contract manufacturer to develop IR sensors with the chip to be supplied by a French-Italian company. The recent rumour is that this company has pulled the plug on the QD contract manufacture.

Despite this setback, IDTechEx Research think the QD-Si UK has long-term potential. Some firms are already offering such sensors on the market. The development challenges are however still numerous. Stability is a key concern and different methods of device-level and QD-level encapsulation are being pursued. Photostability is also another concern and thus far devices are constrained to low-level indoor light and are far from outdoor automotive-grade stability. Further challenges remain over the ability to achieve defect-free and complete solution casting of QDs on large-area silicon dies with appropriate ligands and curing to ensure close and uniform packing and high inter-QD conductivity. In some cases, even the ability to deliver QDs with an arbitrary absorption characteristic in high volumes and with high batch-to-batch consistency is questioned. These challenges represent material development opportunities for those skilled or interested in the art. To learn more about non-display applications of QDs, including sensors and lighting, please visit "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2019-2029: Trends, Markets, Players."

There are many other ongoing opportunities. Companies are working on CuInS2/ZnS QDs. These offer broad emission (180nm or so) even though individual QDs can be narrow emission (20nm). These were targeted at a host of applications in solar cells, security tagging, luminescent solar concentrator, but now focus is on spectrum conversion films used in agricultural greenhouses to boost plant growth. Researchers are working on ZnTeSe QDs. This would be totally free of toxic and potentially cariogenic ingredients. This is early stage research but may offer a route for high efficiency blue at the right emission wavelength. Thermal and photostability data is still lacking, further pointing towards technology immaturity. Companies are launching commercial products based on graphene and carbon QDs. These give broad emission but might allow achieving sufficient low costs and solvent compatibility to be used as a liquid security (or ID) taggant in, say, petroleum products. Some are working on InSeCuAl to achieve toxicant free QDs with Al shelling. Today, the FWHM is young but is fast narrowing. Yet others are developing CIS QDs. These exhibit wide FWHM despite the individual QDs showing narrow emission. This is due to random distribution of mid-gap defect states (Cu related) within the QDs. These materials are being targeted at luminescent solar concentrator and agricultural color conversion films.

There are many other material development and innovation trends and opportunities. This is because the application space for QDs is expanding.An evolution within the use of QD in display is taking place. This evolution will see many technology transitions, each of which will be enabled by new material development and innovation. Many other applications are also either emerging or are already in very early phases of growth. These include image sensors, lighting, security tagging, phototherapy, agricultural conversion films, and so on. To learn more please consult the IDTechEx report "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2019-2029: Trends, Markets, Players."

This report provides the most comprehensive analysis of the QD landscape, looking at applications, materials, and players. It provides application- and material-level ten-year forecast segmented by 11 applications; it offers detailed technology analysis as well as technology roadmaps; it provides up-to-date information and insights onto the key players in the industry as well as innovators.

To find out more about Printed Electronics research available from IDTechEx visit http://www.IDTechEx.com/research/PEor to connect with others on this topic, IDTechEx Events is hosting: Printed Electronics USA, the World's Largest Event on Printed & Flexible Electronics, November 20-21 2019, Santa Clara, USA http://www.IDTechEx.com/PEUSA

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research and Consultancy contact research@IDTechEx.comor visit http://www.IDTechEx.com.

Media Contact:

Jessica Abineri

Marketing Assistant

press@IDTechEx.com

+44(0)1223 812300

Related Links

Further IDTechEx Research on Printed Electronics

World's Largest Event on Printed & Flexible Electronics

SOURCE IDTechEx

http://www.idtechex.com

See more here:

Quantum Dots: IDTechEx Research Analyses Changing and Expanding Application Landscape - PRNewswire

Scientists Discover a More Efficient Way to Turn Heat Into Electrical Energy – SciTechDaily

Posted on by

Researchers have made an important discovery that could make it easier to collect energy from heat.

An international team of scientists has figured out how to capture heat and turn it into electricity.

The discovery, published last week in the journal Science Advances, could create more efficient energy generation from heat in things like car exhaust, interplanetary space probes, and industrial processes.

Because of this discovery, we should be able to make more electrical energy out of heat than we do today, said study co-author Joseph Heremans, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology at The Ohio State University. Its something that, until now, nobody thought was possible.

The discovery is based on tiny particles called paramagnonsbits that are not quite magnets, but that carry some magnetic flux. This is important, because magnets, when heated, lose their magnetic force and become what is called paramagnetic. A flux of magnetismwhat scientists call spinscreates a type of energy called magnon-drag thermoelectricity, something that, until this discovery, could not be used to collect energy at room temperature.

The conventional wisdom was once that, if you have a paramagnet and you heat it up, nothing happens, Heremans said. And we found that that is not true. What we found is a new way of designing thermoelectric semiconductorsmaterials that convert heat to electricity. Conventional thermoelectrics that weve had over the last 20 years or so are too inefficient and give us too little energy, so they are not really in widespread use. This changes that understanding.

Magnets are a crucial part of collecting energy from heat: When one side of a magnet is heated, the other sidethe cold sidegets more magnetic, producing spin, which pushes the electrons in the magnet and creates electricity.

The paradox, though, is that when magnets get heated up, they lose most of their magnetic properties, turning them into paramagnetsalmost-but-not-quite magnets, Heremans calls them. That means that, until this discovery, nobody thought of using paramagnets to harvest heat because scientists thought paramagnets werent capable of collecting energy.

What the research team found, though, is that the paramagnons push the electrons only for a billionth of a millionth of a secondlong enough to make paramagnets viable energy-harvesters.

The research teaman international group of scientists from Ohio State, North Carolina State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (all are equal authors on this journal article)started testing paramagnons to see if they could, under the right circumstances, produce the necessary spin.

What they found, Heremans said, is that paramagnons do, in fact, produce the kind of spin that pushes electrons.

And that, he said, could make it possible to collect energy.

###

Ohio State graduate student Yuanhua Zheng is also an author on this work. The research was conducted in partnership with additional researchers at the U.S. Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Reference: Paramagnon drag in high thermoelectric figure of merit Li-doped MnTe by Y. Zheng, T. Lu, Md M. H. Polash, M. Rasoulianboroujeni, N. Liu, M. E. Manley, Y. Deng, P. J. Sun, X. L. Chen2, R. P. Hermann, D. Vashaee, J. P. Heremans and H. Zhao, 13 September 2019, Science Advances.DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat9461

Go here to see the original:

Scientists Discover a More Efficient Way to Turn Heat Into Electrical Energy - SciTechDaily

Ivanka Trump brings ‘star power’ to global women’s empowerment. But is it helping women? – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

During a five-day South American trip to promote womens empowerment, Ivanka Trump was greeted like a head of state everywhere she went.

At lavish banquets in her honor, she was toasted by the presidents of Colombia and Paraguay. People tracked her motorcade with their cellphone cameras as she was met with military bands and red carpets. A U.S. Air Force jet was dispatched to transport Trump and a delegation of senior U.S. officials, all of whom including the deputy secretary of State were diplomatically outranked by the presidents daughter and formal advisor.

American aid efforts to help poor, disenfranchised women around the globe are nothing new, typically involving grassroots work that generates little attention. Rarely have they involved the diplomatic trappings, designer clothes and U.S. Secret Service protection that Ivanka Trump brings to her pet project, which is amassing a total of $1 billion in both taxpayer and private corporation money to train and provide credit for female small-business owners around the world.

The South American trip renewed questions about Ivanka Trumps unusual role as a privileged first daughter and the effectiveness of her empowerment campaign in an administration that some see as hostile to womens issues.

Since joining her fathers administration, Trump has struggled to find her niche in a White House decidedly more conservative than herself. Helping women around the globe may have seemed like a safe and somewhat apolitical haven.

Trump launched the Womens Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, a program she will promote this week at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. She traveled to Ivory Coast earlier this year to help to push through a law to allow women to own property. In the U.S., she has launched a job-creation program.

No question, her high profile, personal charm and famous father have drawn far greater attention to the cause by both the media and foreign governments, whose leaders are unlikely to brush off the daughter of the U.S president.

The No. 2 at the State Department, Deputy Secretary John Sullivan, said her star power and policy knowledge are a powerful combination. She is a White House official who speaks with great authority on the presidents policies, he said.

But the 37-year-old, who has no previous experience in leading such a massive humanitarian program, has so far not managed to win over those who wonder whether her work is a vanity project to further her personal ambitions or a true commitment to helping disenfranchised women. They say her work largely bypasses sensitive but critical issues, such as healthcare, reproductive rights and violence against women.

Ivanka abroad seems to be Ivankas platonic ideal of herself: doing things that are considered patriotic but not overly political, important but not controversial, and personally on-brand, writer Monica Hesse said in a scathing column in the Washington Post.

Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration who is highly critical of President Trump, said the main problem is whether her appointment as a special advisor is even appropriate in the first place. The Justice Department said hiring her did not violate nepotism rules.

It is extremely unusual, Painter said. What is our image abroad when you have the presidents daughter running around handling the kind of portfolio that has been handled by the first lady going all the way back to Eleanor Roosevelt?

At times Trump has had to fight for a place on the world stage or rely on her fathers connections.

Most famously, earlier this year she awkwardly tried to join a conversation on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan with then-British Prime Minister Theresa May, then-International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and French President Emmanuel Macron. She appeared embarrassingly out of her league.

Her father frequently gives her a hand, sometimes introducing her on foreign trips as on equal standing with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, raising eyebrows about her status and aspirations.

And some of her accomplishments have been questioned. For example, critics noted that the Ivory Coast law permitting women to own property was already in the works well before her visit, and that the same measure also effectively outlawed same-sex marriage, defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

With reporters in South America, Trump preferred to avoid talk of politics and focus on the stories of the women.

We are here to confirm our commitment to some incredible women entrepreneurs, Trump said in Bogota, her first stop on the trip. We are proud to play a small part in women building their families, their businesses and ultimately their societies.

In Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital , Trump joined President Mario Abdo Benitez for a sumptuous luncheon with a Champagne toast.

Trump listened to stories from Paraguayan women, mostly speaking in the indigenous Guarani tongue, about their struggles in attempting to start businesses. She visited a coffee shop run by women who told her it welcomed members of the gay community. Trump smiled politely and said the shop was indeed a special place.

On stops in the remote rural towns of Jujuy and Puramarca in northern Argentina, and in the Colombian capital of Bogota, the agenda was similar. A formal dinner with Colombian President Ivan Duque balanced with a chat with Argentine seamstresses and bakers. In her convoy of armored SUVs, Trump also went to a strawberry farm, about an hour outside of Bogota, owned by a mother-daughter team who benefited from a U.S. Agency for International Development loan and who now supply a national chain of restaurants called Crepes & Waffles. In contrast to her father, Trump showed herself on the trip to be gracious and friendly. Her activities were carefully choreographed and her aides fiercely protective. She is steadfastly on message, preferring photo-ops to political debates.

But she was also willing to laugh at herself, as when portions of her green designer dress in Bogota floated up around her face in the wind, making her look like a giant lily pad; or to relax and let her hair down as when a market vendor in Asuncion grabbed her and began dancing to a Paraguayan ditty.

In the most emotional part of the trip, Trump traveled to Colombias border with Venezuela, to the town of Cucuta, where tens of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the poverty, violence and hardship of their homeland have ended up. The Trump administration supports the overthrow of Venezuelas socialist president, Nicolas Maduro.

At a migrant camp for women and children, Ivanka Trump embraced several mothers who told harrowing tales of escape.

Andry Rodriguez, a 12-year-old boy in a wheelchair, his legs as skinny as curtain rods, told Trump how he wanted to be a veterinarian and missed the dog he had to leave behind in Venezuela. His mother, Wendy Quevedo, said she pushed the wheelchair across Venezuela for a week to reach Cucuta. The account clearly moved Trump, who repeated it several times throughout the trip.

But this too brought criticism of Trump: How could she show sympathy for distant migrants but not speak out against her fathers policies that deny similar people asylum or refuge at the U.S. border?

Migrants are the same all over ... people who have lost hope, said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. I dont know if its hypocrisy ... but it is irrational and counterproductive.

Painter, the lawyer, said, This was pure PR, just trying to put a humanitarian face on the Trump administration, glossing over [the policies]. This is not going to change policy.

Speaking later to two reporters accompanying her on the trip, Trump said the difference was that the Venezuelans want to go home, not to the United States.

For the empowerment project, Trump is able to marshal resources as only a presidents daughter can. Her delegation included Sullivan, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corp., the federal governments financing arm. Trump calls it a whole-of-government approach that is rare for such projects and should improve its chances for success.

But critics say any holistic approach to womens empowerment must also address the fundamental obstacles of health and reproductive systems.

Working within an administration that refuses to finance agencies globally that even mention abortion, Trump has largely accepted the policy rather than challenge it. Her three pillars for womens empowerment make no mention of health, reproductive rights or violence against women, which is endemic in Latin America.

Instead, she focuses on economic policy, hoping that she can muster bipartisan support in Washington and produce concrete results instead of political fighting. Her team says other U.S. agencies can address health.

But Beirne Roose-Snyder, policy director for the Center for Health and Gender Equity, an organization that advocates for women and the LGBTQ community, said omitting health in discussions of economic empowerment was a gaping hole.

Is this going to be good work that just happens to have a lot of [political] baggage from being associated with Ivanka Trump, Roose-Snyder asked of the initiative. Or is she going to [discredit the cause] in an administration that is systematically hostile to women?

Others suggested Ivanka Trumps efforts are being used to whitewash the administrations record on women and human rights.

The question is how does this comport with the administrations other actions, said Melanne Verveer, executive director of Georgetown Universitys Institute for Women, Peace and Security and a former ambassador for womens issues under the Obama administration and at the United Nations.

Theyre doing this at the same time as they are proposing cuts for the development budget, for womens health, for Central America, even climate change, which effects whether women can farm their land, she said. Its all related. How does this fit in the administrations overall commitment to womens empowerment?

Wilkinson was recently on assignment in South America.

Continued here:

Ivanka Trump brings 'star power' to global women's empowerment. But is it helping women? - Los Angeles Times

The hairy morals of my childhood – The Outline

Posted on by

A young girl named Hannah eager, dutiful, pubescent wants to shave her legs, having long observed the womanly ritual of body hair removal. But when she does, something goes wrong. Her hair gets longer and longer and longer. It becomes unmanageable, difficult to hide. She swaps her razor for a pair of scissors, but inexplicably and almost instantaneously, the strands grow, grow, grow several feet in length. Hard as she tries, nothing changes. Frantic and confused, she eventually confides in a so-called friend who then spreads the news to the whole school, ensuring Hannahs complete ostracization.

A lesser known Dr. Seuss book? An early draft of Rapunzel? Not quite. I wrote The Hairy Leg Story in a blue plush Soccer Rocks notebook in 2002, at the age of seven. It is written in a below grade level and unintentionally direct style, featuring zingers like No one liked her anymore. The end. Most of the words are spelled wonderfully wrong, like some pre-standardized-English manuscript (the actual title is The Harry Leg Story), and it follows a plaintive diary entry about a classmate named Hannah (not a coincidence) surreptitiously borrowing and breaking my beloved pencil sharpener.

I came across The Hairy Leg Story when I was at my parents house this winter, sorting through an inexplicable number of empty shoeboxes in my childhood bedroom. Like most things recovered from childhoods dustbin, it seemed pretty ha-ha funny until, at least, I found myself thinking a little too much about it. Because when I did, the story of Hannah and her hair became a story of a young girl who observes feminine rituals without understanding their nuances. Shave, but dont tell; shave, but dont be the first or last middle schooler to do so. Look perfect, but dont be vain; be perfect, but dont let anyone know you had to try.

Selections from the text. Sarah Bochicchio

Selections from the text. Sarah Bochicchio

The women her mother, older sister, and grandmother around Hannah shave their legs to remove traces of the hairs origins, to escape a natural process under the guise of achieving a more natural, permanent state. Hannahs downfall was not only in having the hair, but in having admitted that she tried (and failed) to remove it, confirming its existence on herself and others, thus breaking the coolish code of silence around the performance of feminine immutability. Then, as punishment for her blunder, she was handed the sense of shame and lack of control many people feel around their bodies. It is a feeling, much like the growing hairs, that escalates in ways she cant yet fully process. For there is no corrective, no happy ending once Hannah makes her decision, its traces are forever with her.

Reading The Hairy Leg Story, I found a seven-year-old innocently processing her world as she saw it, learning that women could not falter, did not have space to practice or be flexible in their femininity. The time-worn link between the body and self-worth, the limited ways in which women are allowed to be imperfect these were ideas that I had touted, however unwittingly. Cross-legged between dusty boxes, I awkwardly shuffled around in my skin, trying to roll off their continuing hold.

In the past few years, the body positivity movement and fourth wave feminism have resuscitated and encouraged ongoing progressive conversations around body hair acceptance. Billie, a razor startup, has broken an advertising taboo by actually displaying body hair, to remove with their products. Writers and podcasters like Haley Nahman and Quoi de Meuf have thoughtfully addressed their own complicated relationships to shaving. Celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Emily Ratajkowski have dyed their underarm strands bright colors or broadcasted their under-hair out of protest and personal empowerment. I began paying increasingly close attention to how body hair is or is not represented like Sally Rooneys description of a pre-sort-of-date body in Normal People: Her legs are shaved meticulously, her underarms are smooth and chalky with deodorant, and her nose is running a little.

Mostly, I found myself ruminating on a painting I first remember seeing in 2015, when it was on loan to the National Gallery: The Woman in the Waves (1868) by Gustave Courbet. In the painting, a Venus-like figure stretches from the sea, her back slightly arched against a rock. Seemingly alone, she fixates on something in the distance, beyond our line of vision. A sober sky contrasts with her luminous flesh; the waves lap her torso. A repetition emerges the ruffle of the waves, the mass of her curls, a tuft of underarm hair. When I saw it a few years later, back in New York, that was when I really saw it, and since, I have never been able to stroll past without feeling its jolt. As I was turning over my personal history, the painting and my slowly developed awareness felt emblematic of the long narrative in which my crummy story and I were merely bullet points.

Gustave Courbets The Woman in the Waves. Courtesy of the National Gallery

When Courbet revisited the female nude in the 1860s, women had become, in the words of literary critic Franoise Gaillard and translator Colette Windish, an obsessive presence depicted through generic representations relying on extremely narrow conventions of female beauty (see Alexandre Cabanels The Birth of Venus, for example). Unlike many of his contemporaries portrayals, Courbet challenged the idealization of the body, presenting realistically molded, often hairy women in his finished works. Most famously, in Lorigine du monde (The origin of the world) (1866), he frankly depicted female genitalia and pubic hair stripped of their classical significance, the truncated limbs and unsettling pallor framing an almost-pornographic closeup (the hair, like the pose, strikes an erotic note). His radical departure from the norm, of course, generated some vitriol a contemporary French writer described one of Courbets nudes as ugly enough to be unappetizingto a crocodile.

In Courbets rendering of a traditional Venus, he cropped the image to focus on the upper body, concentrating on the hair against her translucent fleshiness, her flesh against the subdued horizon. That repetition of the ripple the waves, the curls, the silhouette gives way to a sense of kinship between its appearances. How natural these things are: the perpetual creasing of the ocean, unkempt hair frizzing in humidity, those bristling underarm strands. The subjects moment of apparent privacy offers an instinctive display of body hair and breasts; the woman could, at any point, become aware of being watched and lower her arms over her chest. What, Courbet seemed to ask, made this ginger ruffle any less real than the surrounding landscape or her sinuous form? After centuries of depilation and epilation and coiffing, why had the absence of body hair become its standard?

To Courbet, the presence/absence of body hair was an art historical question, in a way that my seven-year-old self could obviously not have understood. But however Courbet likened underarm hair to a bobbing wave on an aesthetic and intellectual level, this aspect of an adult body is all too often deemed unnatural. A century and a half later, his painting still surprised me, as did a photo of Julia Roberts at the Notting Hill premiere, Sophia Lorens revealing halter situation, Thodore Chassriaus Baigneuse Endormie (1850), Billies lovingly persistent fuzz-flaunting, and pretty much any photo associated with the Free Your Pits movement. When I saw Nike post an underarm-bearing ad in April, the pose still felt bold (obviously, Instagram commenters offered friendly advice: wax your armpits or personal hygiene has left the building).

In our affectless Instagram scrolling, as in Courbets time, the distance between image and reality has almost become an expectation. It isnt only the erasure of body hair that is so harrowing, but the contradictory American eroticization of hair on a womans head and the assumption aided by our complacent acceptance of the artificial that both can escape criticism. The examples are endless, but the upset around one Instagram user accidentally bleaching off her head-hair comes to mind. Compare that with those Laser Away commercials wherein Bri, a model and Bachelor contestant, insists, Laser hair removal is probably just the best thing Ive ever done for myself. Laser Away tells me how easy and time-saving laser hair removal is, assuming I somehow forgot that the easiest, cheapest, most efficient option is to do nothing.

These preoccupations establish a heritage to be passed from generation to generation, from sibling to sibling, or from advertisement to household, instilling a false reality that never quite leaves us. When/if tied to shame, the pressure to alter body hair transcends outward conformity, aesthetic preference, or even self-discipline. It becomes a coercion that alters the way we perceive ourselves, how we navigate the world.

Because as much as I wish I could dismiss my childhood scribbles as satire or pure regurgitation, at some level, I must have believed their moral. As the youngest of three girls, hair removal was, at best, a haunting chore I clearly recall my sisters venturing in and out of the waxing salon, purchasing more shaving cream and, at worst, a weapon of critique. On occasion, my mother would reflect on my grandmothers untouched leg hair as an example of matrilineal disinterest in feminine grooming; my mother shaved because thats what normal people do. Between hushed comments and eavesdropped gossip, I registered a sordid shame attached to woolly legs and the palliative a razor could provide. No one remembers my penning the story, but I can see myself wedged in a middle seat of the family car, asking for spelling help, then proudly reciting the tale to a laughing audience.

Around the same age that I wrote The Hairy Leg Story, I saw a toy razor in the supermarket and asked my mom to buy it for me. It was a practical blue-color, crafted in angular, thin plastic, and in the bathtub, I used it to practice the motions I had seen in commercials. As soap bubbles welled around me and my fingers wrinkled to prunes, I dutifully stroked my legs with the fleck of plastic, clearing away rows of shaving cream, one by one. Probably so that when the day came, I could avoid a fate like Hannahs.

See the rest here:

The hairy morals of my childhood - The Outline

HRDQ to Host Webinar on ‘What Your Coaching Style Says About You’ – Yahoo Finance

Posted on by

HRDQ, a leading developer of experiential learning resources for soft-skills training, announces that an informative webinar titled "What Does Your Coaching Style Say About You?" will take place on Friday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. EDT.

WEST CHESTER, Pa., Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --HRDQ, a leading developer of experiential learning resources for soft-skills training, announces that an informative webinar titled "What Does Your Coaching Style Say About You?" will take place on Friday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. EDT.

This free webinar will teach attendees how one's personality style affects coaching behavior. With the knowledge of your coaching style, individuals can better understand why they behave the way they do, learn how to adapt their behavior to improve interpersonal relationships, develop rapport, and ultimately, become more effective coaches.

"Coaching relationships are extremely important in an organization, and this webinar gives professionals the opportunity to expand their knowledge on both coaching effectively and communicating better with employees," said Bradford R. Glaser, HRDQ President and CEO.

The webinar will be presented by Alberta Lloyd. Ms. Lloyd co-founded and was Vice President of Coleman Management Consultants, Inc., (CMC), based in Atlanta, Georgia from 1980 until August 2013. The firm worked with organizations to assist in utilizing their human resources to their full potential. Over the years Ms. Lloyd provided services such as: specialized training for women and/or minority professionals; diversity awareness and skills training; personal empowerment training for executives, managers and the general employee population. She conducted employee opinion surveys, worked with Diversity Councils and Affinity groups within organizations. As needed she completed Mediation services and was trained in the facilitation of Coaching and Learning Circles to teach the skills of Peer Coaching. She also provided individual and group coaching for over one hundred high potential employees in one organization.

This webinar is based on the HRDQ product What's My Coaching Style. This tool is a self-assessment that reveals a dominant preference for one or more of four personality styles: direct, spirited, considerate, or systematic. "What's My Coaching Style?" is appropriate for anyone looking to improve personal or coaching development. It can be used as a standalone training assessment or it can be incorporated into a more comprehensive coaching training program.

Register for the webinar here: http://bit.ly/2kWPPAS

About HRDQ For more than 40 years, HRDQ has been a trusted developer of experiential learning resources that help to improve the performance of individuals, teams, and organizations. It offers a wide range of reliable, research-based training materials, including assessments, games, and customizable programs on in-demand topics such as leadership, communication, and team building.

Originally posted here:

HRDQ to Host Webinar on 'What Your Coaching Style Says About You' - Yahoo Finance

Janet Jackson’s Iconic ‘Rhythm Nation 1814’ Turns 30 Today & We Still Have Work To Do – Recording Academy | Grammys

Posted on by

30 years ago today, a 23-year old Janet Jackson released her groundbreaking, GRAMMY-nominated fourth studio album, Rhythm Nation 1814. The chart-topping 20-track epic not only shook up the music world with its futuristic, raw, industrial soundscape, it also paved the way for socially conscious pop at a poignant time. It followed 1986's GRAMMY-nominatedbreakout hit album Control, which was the first time Jacksonwas given creative control over her music.

As with its predecessor, Jackson worked with GRAMMY-winning musical powerhouses Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, diving deeper into the collaborative co-writing and co-production process they had established. On Rhythm Nation her professional and personal empowerment shines through as she reflects on the madness of the times, and it still hits today. Unfortunately, her message for a safer, more equal world is still is a relevant today as it was then. It's definitely time to revisit the powerful album and take its words and rhythms to heart.

The year was 1989, and the first mass-shooting since the dawn of CNN (in 1980) had, understandably, shaken up the American public, Jackson included. The horrific, racially charged attack took place at an elementary school in Stockton, Calif., leaving five of students dead and 30 other people injured.

On Rhythm Nation 1814's heart-breaking 11th track, "Livin' In A World (They Didn't Make)," Janet echoes the tragedy in the chorus: "Livin' in a world that's filled with hate. / Livin' in a world where grown-ups break the rules / (And they're just) Livin' in a world they didn't make / Payin' for a lot of adult mistakes. / How much of this madness can they take, our children?"

The song ends with gunshots and children's screams, as a clip of a reporter announcing the news of the shooting pulses in and out of the track, fading into the background, almost like an additional, jarring interlude. This specific tragedy may have faded from our social memory, but, even more tragically, sounds eerily similar to breaking news in 2019, and to the countless shootings this nation has endured the past 30 years.

"The fact that the lyrics remain relevant is a bit of a disappointment actually. It means we haven't moved too far away from the prejudice, ignorance, hate and racial bias that we spoke about 30 years ago," Jam recently told Billboard. Yet just because it's downright sad that we're still here doesn't mean we don't have the ability to truly move forward and grow as a nation, for everyone.

"I still believe the power of music is the healing force for all things. It transcends language, race, age, and unites all the commonalities that we have. It's necessary like the air we breathe and we're going to continue to use our gifts to try to change lives in a positive way," he added.

Jam also spoke to her far-reaching influence on music, beyond her unmistakablepop footprint, over the years:

"Janet being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was well-deserved. So many of the trends in music today and the idea of female empowerment on all musical levels owe so much to her. Her innovations in staging, from her headset microphone to the elaborate arena size theatrical sets, and groundbreaking music videos incorporating innovative dance steps have been, and are still being, emulated by all artists across the board, not just rock n' roll. TheRhythm Nationalbum was designed to use music to inspire and inform people."

It's safe to say that the album did, and still does, make waves. The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, seven out of eight of its singles hit the Top 10 and the album and singles earned seven GRAMMY nods across two shows. At the 32nd GRAMMY Awards, in addition to the trio all earning Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical) nominations, the 30-minute album visual won Best Music Video, Long Form.

"I feel that most socially conscious artistslike Tracy Chapman, U2I love their music, but I feel their audience is already socially conscious," JacksontoldRolling Stone in 1990. "I feel that I could reach a different audience, let them know whats going on and that you have to be a little bit wiser than you are and watch yourself."

Maybe we just need to play it a little louder.

MUNA: "The Most Radical Thing You Can Do Is Believe That The World Can Be Saved

Read more from the original source:

Janet Jackson's Iconic 'Rhythm Nation 1814' Turns 30 Today & We Still Have Work To Do - Recording Academy | Grammys

Religion news Sept. 21 – The Republic

Posted on by

Religion News

Services and studies

Dayspring Church Apostolic Worship begins at 11:15 a.m. at the church, 2127 Doctors Park Drive, Columbus. On Sunday, the church will be inspired by, Transformation or Desecration? This is taken from Daniel 12:11, the abomination that maketh desolate set up

Every visitor will receive a free gift. The Sunday education session starts at 10 a.m. and covers Moses at the burning bush, as shared in Exodus 3:1-10.

Bible Study is at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and is a group empowerment study sponsored by Heart Changers International on depression, stress and grief with handout questions. These help build personal empowerment.

Bible study will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and builds on the message from the previous Sunday with handout questions.

Prayer of Power starts at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and is preceded with requests and instructions on prayer. The Celebrate Recovery session starts at 6:30 p.m. for about an hour.

Ignite is the Youth Growth Session that happens every third Friday.

Information: 812-372-9336; dayspringchurch@att.net.

East Columbus United Methodist Morning fellowship time begins at 9 a.m. in the foyer with beverages and light snacks. Worship begins at 9:30 a.m. Sunday service at the church, 2439 Indiana Ave. Pastor Ann Thomas will bring the message from Luke 16.

Children can receive their own message at Childrens Church. A staffed nursery/toddler room is available during the morning service.

Sunday school will begin at 10:40 a.m. for all ages and Bible interests.

Pastor Thomas will deliver the message at the 6 p.m. evening chapel service.

Tuesday afternoon Bible study begins at 1 p.m. in the chapel. The group is studying Philippians.

Wednesday evening Bible study begins at 7 p.m. in the chapel. The group is studying 1 Corinthians.

All are welcome to join any of the Bible study classes.

J.A.M. (Jesus and Me) elementary-age (K-6) youth group will meet 6 p.m. Wednesday in the youth center.

Fairlawn Presbyterian Worship begins at 9:30 a.m. led by the Rev. Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, followed by fellowship time.

Child care is available during Sunday services and second hour studies.

A mens breakfast is 7:30 a.m. the second Saturday of every month for men of all ages.

The Last Fridays Bluegrass event is 7:30 p.m. the last Friday of every month. All are welcome to bring an instrument and play along or simply enjoy the music.

The church is located at 2611 Fairlawn Drive in Columbus.

To contact the church or for more information: 812-372-3882 or office@fairlawnpc.net.

First Presbyterian Worship begins at 9:30 a.m., at 512 Seventh St., Columbus. The church welcomes Abby Mohoupt as guest preacher on Sunday. Her expertise and passion about justice and care for the earth will inform her sermon on the story of creation found in Genesis 2:4b-25. She will lead a special Sunday School class after worship.

Infant and toddler care is available 9:15 a.m. to noon.

The mens and womens support groups meet on Fridays at 7 a.m., and a second mens support group (working age men) meets every Monday at 6:15 a.m. People in the community in need of a meal are invited to Hot Meals offered at 5 p.m. Fridays (please enter through the glass doors on Franklin).

First Presbyterian is an LGBTQ-friendly church that is open and affirming to all. Information: fpccolumbus.org.

First United Methodist On Sunday, at the 9 a.m. traditional service and the 11 a.m. celebration service, the Rev. Howard Boles will deliver the message, The Values by which We Live: Mercy, at the church, 618 Eighth St., Columbus.

The scripture will be Luke 16:1-13. Sunday School begins at 10:10 a.m. Child care is available during both services. Sunday school for all ages begins at 10:10 a.m.

Information: 812-372-2851.

Flintwood Wesleyan On Sunday, the Amplify (non-traditional) service begins at at 9 a.m. with Sunday School classes at 10 a.m. in the regular rooms. The Well (traditional) service starts at 11 a.m. Both are in the main sanctuary and led by the Rev. Wes Jones, senior pastor.

The Prayer Team meets at 8 a.m.

Sunday evenings Celebrate Recovery begins with a meal at 5:25 p.m. in The Friendship Center and the meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the main Sanctuary. The public is invited to attend.

Connections, a ladies study group, led by Pastor Teri Jones, will start Monday and will meet at 10 a.m. in the Friendship Center. Beginning in October, the group will meet the second and fourth Mondays at 10 a.m.

In the Beginning meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in The Friendship Center. New members are welcome to join.

Wednesday activities begins with a meal at 5:30 p.m. The program, iKids (Ignite Kids) On Fire For Jesus! starts at 6:15 p.m. This program is for kids in Pre-K through the sixth grade. If your child needs transportation, call the church office. The bus will run on Wednesday nights. The prayer team meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Prayer Room. Youth meets at 6:30 p.m. downstairs in the church. Bible study is at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary.

Thursday: Cub Scout Pack 588 will meet when events are scheduled and Boy Scout Troop 588 will meet at 7 p.m.

Information: 812-379-4287; flintwoodoffice@gmail.com; flintwood.org.

Grace Lutheran The message on Sunday is Men, Women, and the Order of Creation, based on 1 Timothy 2:1-15. Worship is at 8 and 10:30 a.m., with Sunday school for all ages at 9:30 a.m.

A School Days themed church potluck is set for noon Sunday. All are welcome.

Alpha, an introduction to the Bible continues 6-8 p.m. Tuesday with the topic Why and How Should I Read the Bible?

The Searching Scripture class continues 6-8 p.m. Tuesday with the topic The Ten Commandments.

Mens Bible study will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The church is located at 3201 Central Ave., Columbus.

Information: gracecolumbus.org; 812-372-4859.

Old Union United Church of Christ Sunday service is at 10 a.m.; Sunday school is at 9 a.m., followed by fellowship at 9:40 a.m.

Scriptures for Sunday include Amos 8:4-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-7 and Luke 16:1-13. The message is Living Prayerfully.

The church is located at 12703 N. County Road 50W, Edinburgh.

On Oct. 5, the church will host the Thankful Hearts in concert.

Information: Old Union United Church of Christ on Facebook.

Petersville United Methodist The Rev. Stormy Scherer-Berry will present her sermon, Generations of Love: Blessing, at the 9 a.m. worship service Sunday. Scriptures from John 1:16 will be shared by the liturgist Deb Loper.

The emphasis will center on blessing one another so believers can answer Yes to the question, Have I helped them to be fully alive?

Teresa Covert will give the childrens sermon and special music will be shared by the choir. Fellowship will follow the service.

The Monday night Bible study classes meet at 6:30 p.m. Bakers Dozen meets at the home of Larry and Connie Nolting, and Journey meets at the home of Chris Kimerling.

The Sit and Stitch group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Nolting home.

Choir practice is held at 6:30 p.m. at the church Wednesday.

Prayer Time, led by Barb Hedrick, will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The church is at 2781 N. County Road 500E, Columbus.

Information: 812-546-4438 or 574-780-2379.

St. Paul Lutheran Pastor Doug Bauman will deliver the message Sunday versus Monday based on Amos 8:4-7 at the the 8 and 10:45 a.m. services Sunday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 6045 E. State St., Columbus.

Christian education classes for all ages begin at 9:30 a.m. Vicar Daniel Fickenscher will lead worship at the 2:30 p.m. Spanish service with Spanish/English Sunday School following at 3:30 p.m.

Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Cub Scout troops meet weekly at the Church. To learn more about Girl Scouts, contact Crista Burbrink at 812-216-1982; to learn more about Boy Scouts, contact Jamie Richardson at 812-603-0266; to learn more about Cub Scouts, contact Jeff Tobias at 812-343-9804.

A celebration of St. Michael and all angels will be held during regular worship services on Sept. 29 with short meditations on a festival of hymns depicting angels during the church year.

Information: 812-376-6504 or stpaulcolumbus.org.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus The message at the 10 a.m. service Sunday will be We BelieveWhat? by the Rev. Seth Carrier-Ladd, who will discuss the varied individual beliefs in the Unitarian Universalism church.

The church is located at 7850 W. Goeller Blvd., Columbus.

Information: 812-342-6230

Westside Community Pastor Robert Vester will lead the service at 10 a.m. Sunday at the church at the corner of 46 West and Tipton Lakes Boulevard. The childrens program for birth through sixth grade meets at the same time as the 10 a.m. worship service.

WCC offers a number of Bible studies and small groups.

Information: 812-342-8464.

Wilson Chapel Christian Union Sunday worship service begins at 9:30 a.m. The pastor is Jon Merrifield.

Sunday School classes meet at 10:30 a.m.

Praise Team practice is at 6 p.m. on Monday night.

Faith In Action, a community outreach program, meets at the Family Life Center at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evenings for a time of prayer before going into the local community to share Gods love.

Wilson Chapel Christian Union church is located on State Road 7, one mile south of the Bartholomew-Jennings county line.

Information: 812-579-5317.

Music

First United Methodist The church will host a free concert in the sanctuary as part of its Fridays@First series at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The concert will feature Arkady Orlovsky on the cello, and Tamara Orlovsky on piano. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and donations are appreciated.

The church is located at 618 Eighth St., Columbus.

Lowell General Baptist The church will host a hymn sing at 7 p.m. today. Jerry Caudill and Boys will be the featured singers.

St. Paul Lutheran An organ concert by assistant organ professor Stephen C. Price, of Ball State University, will be held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 6045 E. State St. at 7 p.m. Oct. 4. All are cordially invited to attend.

Events

Community Church of Columbus DivorceCare, DivorceCare for Teens and DivorceCare for Kids will be offered for 12 weeks beginning Sept. 24. The sessions begin at 6:30 p.m. The divorce ministry is part of the Tuesday Connection series.

The church is located at 522 Seventh St., Columbus. To register or for info: 812-348-6257, cccolumbus.org.

East Columbus Christian The church presents Fuel on Wednesday nights, which includes a free meal and Bible study from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It is located at 3170 Indiana Ave., next to Columbus East High School.

First United Methodist On Sept. 25, Learning Tree Preschool will host World Fest in the First United Methodist Church parking lot, 618 Eighth St., Columbus.

All are welcome to celebrate the rich heritage and cultures of families and friends who attend LTP through music, food, dancing, arts and crafts, games and more. This free event for all ages begins at 5:30 p.m. Rain location will be Fellowship Hall inside the church.

Flintwood Wesleyan Today, the youth will have a Kiss the Critter Outlaw Edition fundraiser. In-law pairs will compete. The one with the most money collected will have to kiss the surprise critter. Voting will take place up to right before the critter is revealed. Other activities will be happening throughout the day.

The last Open Market for the season will be 8:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 5. Local artisans will be set up as well as vendors selling food and produce.

The annual Harold Carr Memorial Golf Scramble will be Oct. 19. If you want to sign up early, contact Gary Carter through the church office. More details will be announced.

On Oct. 31, the church will host Trunk or Treat during the time established by the city of Columbus for trick-or-treating.

The church is located at 5300 E. 25th St., Columbus.

For more information, call 812-379-4287 or visit flintwood.org.

St. Paul Lutheran The churchs early childhood ministry will host the 13th annual golf scramble today at Shadowood Golf Course, 333. N. Sandy Creek Drive, Seymour. Sign-in will begin at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Entry fee is $240 per foursome or $60 per individual and includes continental breakfast, practice balls, green fees with cart, lunch and prizes. Call 812-376-6504 to check availability.

St. Paul Lutheran Churchs annual Harvest Fest will start at 4 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Schroer Ranch, 9846 E. County Road 50N. Activities for the afternoon include apple bobbing, hayride and volleyball. A hymn sing and youth-led devotions will precede the 5:30 p.m. pitch-in meal (meat, hot dogs, drinks, table service will be provided). All are invited to attend.

South Central Indiana Christian Mens Fellowship 6 p.m. Sept. 24 at United Christian Church, 7810 W. State Road 250, Paris Crossing. Dinner 6 p.m., followed by 7 p.m. meeting. Meal: fried chicken and trimmings, cheesy potatoes. Johnny Johnson will be the speaker. Women invited to attend this meeting.

Read more here:

Religion news Sept. 21 - The Republic

Diversity Council forum calls public to action when it comes to volunteering – Martinsburg Journal

Posted on by

MARTINSBURG Leaders from various nonprofit organizations and boards came together during a community forum Tuesday evening to discuss diversity and personal empowerment in the Eastern Panhandle.

Damien Wright, chairman of the Berkeley County Diversity Council, said the council invited several representatives from different organizations to share what they are doing in the community to bring about change. He added a main goal of the meeting was to show the community which resources are available and how they can get involved.

Zakeem McGill, president of the local NAACP, said the most important thing the community should take away from the panelists at the event was the importance of volunteering what time they have big or small to ensure their neighbors are being treated with the respect they deserve.

I feel like Im preaching to the choir, because I think everyone here (Tuesday) can agree our climate is hostile to people of color, LGBTQ, women, people with disabilities, and its very disturbing, McGill said. The only thing that could benefit all of these organizations is if more people get involved. There is a role you can play, small or large, theres something you can do to directly address the distress that many in our community face everyday. You could be that one person in someones day that makes them feel like theyre not alone, that theres someone who understands the pain and stress theyre feeling.

The panel also discussed the growing homeless population, which Wright described as a huge issue in Berkeley County, and how Luci Hernandez, of Catholic Charities of West Virginia, and her organization are working to help these individuals find their footing again.

Hernandez said the group offers case management services, a personal care closet, which the community can help keep stocked through donations, and a refugee and immigration department to help those who are vulnerable, but said even when people are stabilized, the groups efforts dont stop there.

Even if these people are stabilized and they are safe, we just let them know we are still here if they need us, Hernandez said. We step back and let them do their thing, and we will assist in any way we can. We want to make sure our clients have access to the needs, but we also try to see where we can fill in gaps no matter how many times they come back to us.

Nancy White, who is with the Martinsburg Initiative, said the groups goal is to provide support and information for all areas of the Eastern Panhandle, including fields such as the police, schools, public health and community partnership. White added the group is working specifically with the unintended victims of the opioid crisis in our area through trainings offered free to school officials and the public, to help children of those abusing drugs to create a stronger generation.

The panel also featured Jodi Westrope, of the Parent Educator Resource Center, and Brandy Beery, of Peoples First of the Eastern Panhandle, who shared their individual organizations goals of empowerment to children, parents and individuals with disabilities.

Visit the Berkeley County Diversity Council Facebook page for more information on the group, meeting schedules and the organizations featured at Tuesdays forum.

See the original post here:

Diversity Council forum calls public to action when it comes to volunteering - Martinsburg Journal

Reviving cities must include the excluded – The CT Mirror

Posted on by

Sean Fowler :: Special to the Hartford Courant

Salsa Socials on Pratt Street in Hartford draw large crowds and add to the sense of the citys revival, but not all boats are rising.

A quarter century ago, downtown Hartford was 8/5 rather than 24/7. People drove in for work or UConn games and then headed back to the suburbs. It was hard to even buy a cup of coffee on weekends.

That has changed.With 1,500 new apartments completed or in construction, a new UConn branch, new transportation options and minor league baseball, the downtown area is coming back to life.

But just blocks from the theaters and elegant restaurants are some of the poorest neighborhoods in the state.

New Haven has followed a similar path.

A massive investment by Yale University that began in the 1990s has helped turn downtown New Haven into a destination, with the states tallest residential building, a second train station and a host of hip bars and restaurants.

But though Yale also made some neighborhood investments the Elm City also has struggling areas. New Havens poverty rate of 25.6%, according to the U.S. Census 2017 American Community Survey, trails only New London at 28.3% and Hartford at 30.5%. The number refers to those living below the poverty line, set at $24,860 for a family of four.

This is a local version of a national problem.

Former industrial cities that were thought dead have risen like Lazarus, drawing young people, small businesses and trendy amenities. But the revivals of Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and (even) Detroit, as with Hartford and New Haven, have been uneven within their boundaries.Some downtown districts thrive; many other neighborhoods, almost invariably poor, minority enclaves, are left behind.

So the challenge: How can cities share the new-found wealth, bring some of the downtown prosperity to distressed neighborhoods, and revive themselves in such a way that all residents benefit?

Inclusive revitalization defined by The Urban Institute as overcoming economic distress in a way that provides the opportunity for all residents, especially historically excluded populations, to benefit and contribute has become a hot topic among people who study urban policy, the subject of research papers, symposia and a well-received new book, The Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America by planner and author Alan Mallach (Island Press).

The issue is important to Connecticut because better functioning cities mean more opportunities for residents, more local commerce and a stronger state economy. It could help reverse the growing jarring chasm between the haves and have-nots.

According to an analysis of the 2013-17 U.S. Census American Community Survey by the New Haven-based nonprofit analytics firm DataHaven, the 10 poorest census tracts in the state are in Hartford (4) Bridgeport and Waterbury (2 each) New Haven and Meriden (1 each). In 2017, the average family income in these areas was $29,000.

The 10 wealthiest tracts can be found in Greenwich (5), New Canaan (3) and Darien (2), The average family income in these gilded swaths is $490,000, 17 times that of their neighbors in the bottom 10. That ratio has almost doubled since 1980, when family incomes in the wealthy tracts were a mere nine times higher than those in the poorer areas.

Allowing this gap between the rich and poor to worsen raises a critical issue of fairness, said Mallach in a recent telephone interview.

What is a just society? What is a just city? he asked, adding that our failure to address the issue is a recipe for a (citys) future that is unhealthy, problem-ridden and dangerous look at Chicago and Baltimore.

Stephen Dunn :: Hartford Courant

In 2009, the city of Hartford released results of a survey about downtown real estate vacancies that showed that 21 percent of all units were vacant. This photo, taken on Pratt Street, showed the significant number of vacancies in that part of the city alone.

White Flight

Though the states large cities have endured weak leadership from time to time, their decline in the mid-20th century was mostly due to factors beyond their control.

Factories closed or moved. Post-World War II prosperity and a new highway system spurred (overwhelmingly white) flight to the suburbs while mortgage redlining and other policies such as exclusionary zoning kept most minorities in the cities. Most of the populous cities (except Stamford) are geographically small 18-20 square miles and have much tax exempt property, a distinct disadvantage in a state heavily reliant on local property taxes.

The cities became home to concentrated poverty because of policies that encouraged concentrated poverty, said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin in a recent interview.

And yet, as former Hartford resident Mark Twain might have said, reports of the cities demise were greatly exaggerated. Attracted by the traditional advantages of cities economy of scale, variety, entertainment, convenience, human contact, etc. people and businesses began moving back, but not to all neighborhoods.

Sharing the revival is a challenge. Along with providing basic services, Bronin is pursuing several inclusion strategies. One is to get downtown right. This means renewing downtown in a way that engages its residents as well as visitors, and that has jobs and small businesses opportunities for residents.

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp

Another is to build on strength, to invest in or near existing nodes of neighborhood development, from the conversion of the former Swift gold leafing factory to a food services job site in the North End to improvements the Upper Albany commercial corridor and the mixed-use development of the Coltsville complex in the South End, among others.

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp has an array of neighborhood projects underway. One, Downtown Crossing, is traversing and developing the Route 34 corridor that walled downtown from the struggling Hill neighborhood for decades. Now the Hill neighborhood becomes part of downtown, Harp said.

Another inclusion effort she described is a city partnership with Southern Connecticut State University and Gateway Community College to train city residents for jobs in the citys expanding biotech sector. There are others, including a worker-owned cooperative laundry to support the local hospitals, based on Clevelands remarkable Evergreen Cooperative.

We really try to make sure development goes on across our entire city, Harp said.

Are efforts such as these bearing fruit in Connecticut?

Some, but not a ton, according to a Brookings Metro Monitor study released last year. The study rated the countrys largest 100 metros on improvements in inclusion (along with growth and prosperity) in 2015-16, based on median wage, employment rates and number of people living below the poverty line.

The results were not spectacular. The New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport metropolitan areas finished 54th, 72nd and 80th, respectively, on inclusion.

Solutions

As the Brooking study indicates, a lot of metro areas struggle with inclusion. For example, Mallachs book looks closely at Pittsburgh and Baltimore, both of which especially Pittsburgh are widely considered comeback cities, and finds their revivals are limited to a handful of neighborhoods.

But some cities are heading in the right direction.The Urban Institute released an extensive study on inclusion in 2018 titled Inclusive Recovery in US Cities. The researchers zeroed in on four cities Lowell, Mass., Columbus, Ohio, Midland, Tex., and Louisville, Ky. that outperformed their peers on inclusion as their economies improved.

They attribute the inclusionary success of these cities to some combination of eight factors.The first three bold leadership, a shared vision and partners in all sectors are essential to any successful urban revival effort.

Tom Condon :: CT Mirror

The plaza in Lowells national historic park, which was once an abandoned textile mill.

But economic revival by itself doesnt necessarily lead to more inclusion. Sharing the wealth may also involve a variety of other factors, including the ability to leverage community assets and advantages.

Every city has distinct assets. For example, turning a sows ear into a silk purse, Lowell readapted abandoned textile mills into a National Historic Park combined with residential units and office space.

Successful inclusive growth also involves the ability to think regionally.This would be a novel experience for Connecticut, which does not have regional government, but it is done in other parts of the country.

The rationale for regionalization listen up Nutmeggers is this: Fragmented regions, with multiple governments working in isolation, can slow economic growth, lead to fiscal disparities, and impede service delivery, the study says. Louisville merged with surrounding Jefferson County in 2003, which catapulted it from the 65th to 23rd largest city in the nation, slightly lowered the cost of government, and supported economic growth and regional inclusion.

Disenfranchised communities must also be allowed to build voice and power, experts say. At the time of the 2003 city-county merger in Louisville, civil rights groups successfully pushed for new district lines to preserve African-American representation in the new city council. And Lowell welcomed what became the countrys second largest Cambodian population, understanding that they would help the local economy.

Reframing inclusion as being essential to growth is also important. Louisville has been working for decades to desegregate its public schools, an effort that has been good for recovery. By maintaining diverse schools, Louisville has been able to maintain its tax base, as residents are not hollowing out the city by relocating for schools, the study observes.

Finally, cities interested in inclusive growth should develop policies and programs that support inclusion in education, housing, economic development and fiscal incentives. These can range from college aid programs, affordable housing with access to jobs as well as training for the jobs that are available.

The key, said Mallach in a recent interview, is to focus intently on the needs of the people who have been excluded.

He said some people from difficult neighborhoods have been beaten down and suffer something like PTSD. He pointed to a Minneapolis job preparation program, Twin Cities R!SE, that offers both personal empowerment classes as well as skills training to get people into the workforce.

Its not as much the money as the mentality, he said.

The Cities Project, a collaboration between CT Mirror, Connecticut Public Radio, Hearst Connecticut Media, Hartford Courant, Republican-American of Waterbury, Hartford Business Journal, and Purple States, will publish periodic articles exploring challenges and solutions related to revitalizing Connecticuts cities. Send comments or suggestions to ehamilton@ctmirror.org.

Continue reading here:

Reviving cities must include the excluded - The CT Mirror

Life Vest Inside Reaches Over 100 Million Singles & Couples With Its Message of Hope, Kindness & Empowerment – – DatingNews

Posted on by

For as long as she can remember, Orly Wahba has been passionate about bringing people together. She said that, even as a 5-year-old, she felt she had something important to give to the world, but she didnt know how to express it. She was a shy girl with big dreams until her world went up in flames.

When she was 15, Orlys home burned down, and she didnt just lose her worldly possessions she lost her inner light. Orly sank into a suicidal depression, and she stopped engaging with the world. She was absent from school for weeks, yet not one of her classmates came by to check on her.

Orly Wahba overcame difficulties in her life by embracing kindness.

One day, as she was getting ready for school, Orly looked in the mirror and realized she didnt recognize herself anymore. She couldnt see the 5-year-old who wanted to change the world. She had lost herself in a hopeless haze, and she didnt want to continue down that road.

I made a promise to myself, she recalled. I promised to be there for people in the way that no one was there for me and, more importantly, to see them in a way that no one had seen me.

From that moment on, Orly began making an effort to contribute to her class and community. She raised her hand to share her thoughts. She mentored at-risk youth. She gave as much of herself as she could to others, and she found it made her feel stronger and happier.

I was always a giver, but now it was coming from a place of strength, she said. When you give from abundance, its not a sacrifice. The more I gave, the more I began to heal.

Orly discovered the power of kindness in her youth, and she has spent her life sharing that lesson in the classroom and beyond. In 2010, Orly retired from her career as a middle school teacher to start a nonprofit that would inspire acts of kindness throughout the world. Life Vest Inside is about showing others the value of kindness and motivating them to become the best possible version of themselves. Its about telling someone they matter and making the world better by giving unconditional love and support to those in need.

Couples who practice kindness often reap the benefits in their relationships. In fact, psychologists say that kindness is the most important predictor of marriage stability and satisfaction. A simple act of kindness can brighten someones day or bring a smile to someones face, and that can make a world of difference in how they view themselves, how they treat others, and how they handle conflict in their lives.

Orly experienced this firsthand in her teenage years, and she has made it her lifes mission to teach others how to transform themselves through kindness.

Kindness Boomerang is full of tips and inspirational guidance.

When it comes to the subject of kindness, Orly literally wrote the book. In 2011, she penned Kindness Boomerang: How to Save the World (and Yourself) Through 365 Daily Acts to inspire people to be kind to one another every day. The idea for the book came from Orlys award-winning film Kindness Boomerang, which saw over 100 million views and led to a TED talk about kindness she gave in 2013.

Orly talks passionately about how kindness can transform the world, and she encourages people to take small steps to help, support, and love others.

Project Hope Exchange is one of Life Vest Insides most impactful programs. It offers individuals a place where they can give and receive hope in the form of 30-second audio messages. People going through difficult times can listen to a hopeful recording from someone who has been through something similar. Visit the website or call the Hope Line at 1-855-975-HOPE (4673) to learn more.

Were giving hope to others, Orly said. Everyone faces adversity in life, and it helps to know youre not alone.

Orly told us that kindness is a superpower that everyone possesses. You dont have to be the smartest, the funniest, the richest, or the prettiest person in the world to make a positive impact on the world you just have to be kind. That in itself is enough.

By becoming more generous, compassionate, and optimistic, people can improve their personal relationships and cultivate a sense of fulfillment and happiness in their day-to-day lives.

Kindness is the greatest tool weve found to empower people to discover their value, Orly said. When a person is doing something kind and seeing the impact it has, they come to recognize their true power.

Music has been influential in Orlys life she told us Michael Jacksons Heal the World is her personal theme song and she has pioneered a program that uses music and dance to unite people of all creeds. Dance for Kindness is an annual flash mob performance held in over 50 countries around the world.

In celebration of World Kindness Day, over 55,000 people gather together to perform the same dance to the same song at the same time and raise money for their favorite charities. This show of solidarity is inspirational, and it empowers individuals as young as 10 and as old as 80 to discover their inner strength and beauty.

As a volunteer-run event, Dance for Kindness also creates leadership opportunities in local communities. Nearly 400 group leaders help organize this massive, kindness-focused spectacle. Its essentially leadership training, Orly said. We give people the skills and tools they can utilize when taking any idea and putting it into action.

Life Vest Inside has inspired a community of lovers and leaders around the world.

Many schools have taken an interest in the Dance for Kindness phenomenon, and Orly has created a kindness curriculum to help teachers, administrators, and students keep the positive energy flowing all year round. The program includes arts and humanities projects that align with common core principles. Life Vest Inside also offers schools the chance to win up to $1,500 in grants for participating in the curriculum.

As a life-long educator, Orly is passionate about providing educational materials that reinforce kindness and inspire a new generation of compassionate and self-confident citizens of the world.

People can get involved in the simplest of ways, Orly said. If someone wants to learn what were about, they can connect with resources on our site.

If you want to keep up with the fast-growing kindness movement, you can subscribe to the Daily Kind and Kindness Flash newsletters. These upbeat resources connect a community of over 42,000 people and offer inspirational quotes, positive affirmations, extraordinary real-life stories, and a continual reminder of the importance of being kind.

Life Vest Inside has started a dialogue about kindness, and its message has resonated with people from all walks of life. The nonprofit has given solace to people going through all kinds of personal challenges, and it has uplifted them with a message of hope and goodwill.

Many people have reached out to Orly to say that her events, resources, and overall message hit home and helped change their mindset. For some heartsick individuals, Life Vest Inside can be a literal life saver, giving them hope for the future and surrounding them with words of encouragement during times of turmoil, conflict, or self-doubt.

Life Vest Inside has made my life so much happier, said Montana Markland, who lives in Australia. Im pitching an idea to help run service groups around the community so I can inspire others to be kind too.

Thanks to Life Vest Inside, Orly has made a difference in many peoples lives and started a ripple effect of kindness throughout the world. You taught me to be kind and loving. You taught me how to find inner peace. You taught me to forgive people, said Frederick Kunst of Denmark. Youve changed my world!

Orly is like a mother to a huge family, said Paul G. in a testimonial.Its nice to know Orlys light is out there, lighting the way away from darkness.

Orly said such testimonials mean a lot to her because helping others is her main drive in life.

When youre positive, you draw positivity to you, Orly explained. Were like magnets what we think is what we draw into our lives. Once you start believing in yourself and loving others, everything changes.

For Orly, kindness is more than an ideal its a way of life. She has witnessed how an act of friendship and generosity can impact people, and she has become a lightning rod of kindness throughout the world.

Life Vest Inside organizes many heartfelt, community-driven projects that help people connect with one another. In her mission to educate and inspire, Orly has given motivational speeches, written books, created curriculum, and pioneered programs that encourage others to spread goodness everywhere they go.

Singles, couples, and families that focus on kindness can strengthen their relationships and build a healthy sense of self-esteem. Whatever challenges youre facing in life, you can overcome them by listening to Orlys words of wisdom and taking up the banner of kindness in your everyday life.

The billboard of what were saying is You matter, she said. And that means other people matter, too.

Go here to read the rest:

Life Vest Inside Reaches Over 100 Million Singles & Couples With Its Message of Hope, Kindness & Empowerment - - DatingNews

Windsor non-profit offers counselling to young women affected by addiction codependence – CBC.ca

Posted on by

A not-for-profit organization says addiction in Windsor has become so prevalent, it's now offering counselling services to support young women affected by people with addictions.

Crossroads: Centre for Personal Empowerment is running a 10-week group counselling program for women between the ages of 16 and 24 who struggle with codependency.

"The main issues or challenges these women would face are self-esteem, identity, having value within herself, decision-making and creating boundaries inlife," said Dana Agnolin, a social worker who is leading the codependency group atCrossroads.

The term 'codependency'was coined a few decades ago in the context of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

"It was originally created for family members of those struggling with an addiction," said Agnolin.

"They love this person, and they have a hard time separating themselves from the person's addiction." said Tim Baxter, executive director of Crossroads.

"They rely so heavily on how the other person is doing that they abandon their own feelings and emotions in an effort to address whatthe addict needs. And it impacts them significantly."

The new group sessions will tackleone topic each week for 10 weeksto help people gain a healthy perspective on themselves.The first half covers topics such as boundaries and assertiveness and the second half creates a support system for women to hear one another's stories and realize they aren't alone.

"The support aspect of this group is very important." said Agnolin.

Tim Baxter said when he launched his non-profit organization 12 years ago, addiction wasn't at the forefront of many minds.

"The opiate crisis was just starting to manifest itself at that point in time. The heavier drugs were just starting to become prevalent," he said. "[Opiates were] so bad at one point around that time, people were renting vans and driving them out to doctors they had identified would easily prescribe them that kind of medication for them."

But with widespread drug use, came more significant problems in Windsor, and the need for agencies to increase programming, according to Baxter.

While funding at Crossroads similar to multiple agencies in the city is limited, the non-profit has tried to evolve with the times.

In 2019, that means providing codependency treatment for young women who haven't properly learned how to have a healthy relationship and cope with emotions.

"They place value in situations rather than value in themselves, in their own opinions," said Agnolin.

Agnolin says sometimes people who struggle with codependency want to fix the other person and lose sight of who they are and what they need for themselves to prosper.

Baxter has been in addiction services for nearly 30 years.He saidhe has called paramedics and police multiple times to his office.

During his interview, Baxterreached into his desk drawer.

"You know what this is?" he asked while holding a Naloxone kit. "It originally came with three doses. There's only one dose left in there.That's the second kit I've had."

Baxter said he's had to administer Naloxone in his office at least five times.

"I don't like it to happen, but it happens. I can't change it."

While Baxter can't change how addiction looks in Windsor, he is changing the services the organization has to meet community needs.

View post:

Windsor non-profit offers counselling to young women affected by addiction codependence - CBC.ca

It’s All About the Divorce Gap: Ending Isolation for Divorcing Women – Philanthropy Women

Posted on by

Divorce is often a difficult process, and it disproportionately leaves women struggling with financial challenges. As we covered in regard to MacKenzie Bezos settlement, after a divorce, mens standard of living generally rises by about 33%, while womens drops by about 20%. Other studies have shown that womens income after divorce drops by an average of 41%. These stats outline the divorce gap, one of many overlapping economic gaps women continue to face, including the wage, debt, unpaid labor, funding, investing and pink tax (consumer pricing) gap.

There are many reasons women can find themselves struggling after a divorce; some stop working to raise kids during marriage and then find it difficult to re-enter the workforce and earn adequately. Others take on full-time caregiving for the first time after a divorce, which can conflict with their career paths and keep them from making enough to support their families. Some women havent chosen or been able to invest independently for the future and find themselves without a safety net or backup plan. The other financial gaps all come into play. Women are generally paid less, have more debt, receive less funding, invest less and are charged more for products designed for them. And the unpaid labor gap is significant here; women often take on care giving, housekeeping and other crucial contributions to families and societies that are uncompensated.

One study by the investment banking company UBS found 56% of women defer to their spouses on investment decisions and financial planning. Many couples refrain from talking about their financial future, the possibility of divorce or prenups. Women (and men) may find the family law court system complex and inaccessible. The alimony or child-support awarded may not be enough to meet a woman or familys needs. And divorces can be expensive, ranging from around $250 for simple, amicable procedures up to more than $100,000, with an average estimate in the range of $15,000 to $30,000, according to The Atlantic. Paying for utilities, basic needs and lifes unexpected costs during this time of uncertainty and change can be challenging. Issues like child custody and domestic abuse make these matters more difficult and even dangerous for women. There are many ways feminist philanthropy can support women going through these complex processes.

The Fresh Start Womens Foundation in Arizona sets an example of how a community-based organization can help women in various transitions. It provides education, social services and other resources to women, aiming to help every woman [reach] her full potential through achieving personal empowerment and financial self-sufficiency. It offers social worker-led support groups and mentoring, educational scholarships, technology and career advancement training and resources, community volunteer support and family law services. Fresh Start is funded by Allstate, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Thunderbirds Charities, The Dorrance Family Foundation, Moreno Family Foundation and others.

Fresh Start Family Law Support Manager and Certified Legal Document Preparer (CLDP) Edna Gomez-Green says there are three main challenges women face regarding divorce; lack of access to affordable legal representation, lack of information about relevant legal issues, and lack of a support system, both for women going through a divorce and after the divorce is final. Women also often face isolation in the process of ending relationships and suffer from deep cultural stigmas around divorce.

Fresh Starts programming addresses many of these needs. Through the family law program, it provides classes by attorneys and other professionals, reduced-fee document preparation, referrals to free or low-cost attorney consultations, and a Law Day for Women, with one-one-one question-and-answer time with volunteer attorneys.

Gomez-Green says the foundations social work and resource team offer individualized services for women going through divorce and facilitate both open and closed support groups to connect them with other women working through similar challenges. The Fresh Start Foundation serves about 5,000 women every year. In 2018, it held 1,656 family law sessions and helped 715 women who requested assistance with a family court matter.

Women going through a divorce benefit the most when they are prepared to go through the divorce process. Knowing the law, their rights and having the ability to advocate for what is fair and appropriate is what they seek the most, she tells us.

Gomez-Green points out several ways philanthropists can support women in these situations. For divorcing women, donors can offer scholarships or funding to cover filing fees, document preparation, attorney consultations and limited-scope [or] full-matter representation, for matters involving children, complex circumstances or high-conflict, when the other party is represented.

For women who are already divorced, she says funding for transitional housing, job training, education and child care can help women and mothers to become self-sufficient. The more informed and financially stable divorced women are, the better they can practice self-care, pursue their ambitions, provide for their families and invest in their communities.

***

Philanthropy Womencovers funding for gender equity in all sectors of society. We want to significantly shift public discourse, particularly in philanthropy, toward increased action for gender equality. You can support our work and access unlimited and premium content with one of oursubscriptions.

Related

I often cover innovations in science, the arts and social justice. Find my work with NPR, Discover Magazine, APR and Earth Island Journal, among other publications. My portfolio is at jtravers.journoportfolio.com.View all posts by Julia Travers

Link:

It's All About the Divorce Gap: Ending Isolation for Divorcing Women - Philanthropy Women

The Social and Health Education Project opens applications for new course – I Love Limerick

Posted on by

SHEP SACE course: SHEP celebrates 10 year anniversary of continuous training in Limerick at the Absolute Hotel. Pictured are Cora Daly, Limerick Clare Education Training Board Youth officer, graduate Dean Leahy, O Malley Park, Anita OShea, SHEP Chairperson, graduate Yvonne McCarthy, Cappagh, and Gearoid Prendergast, Coordinator Midwest Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

The Social and Health Education Project opens applications for a new course

The Social and Health Education Project (SHEP) has opened its applications for a new course in Social Awareness and Community Empowerment (SACE), which will be made up of five workshops between September and December 2019.

Established in 1974, SHEP is a unique, not-for-profit, community-based training and development organisation based in Cork and Kerry as well as Limerick. The SHEP Mid-West Programme is supported by a number of local partners including the Mid-West Regional Drug and Alcohol Forum (MWRDAF), Limerick and Clare ETB, the HSE, Paul Partnership as well as SHEP.

Anita O Shea, Chair of the SHEP Mid-West Advisory Group, says, The SHEP Mid-West Training Programme has gone from strength to strength. A great number of people, their families and communities have benefitted from the transformational experience of SHEP courses.

Pictured is Anita OShea at the SHEP Midwest celebration of ten continuous years of training in Limerick with their graduateship event at the Absolute Hotel. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

The course is available, however not limited to, people who have already completedSHEPs Certificate in Personal Development,this course here being Part Two of theSHEPFoundation Programme. For these, it is a continuation of their personal journey of growth and development, through deepening awareness of the wider social relationships with which we are all involved.

It is also available to peopleas an alternative entry point toSHEPs training pathwaythan the Personal Development course, so as to include participants whose main starting interest in their community, their involvement in a local organization, and want to bring deeper awareness to that involvement.

SACE is a transformative course in a supportive, friendly, and non-judgmental learning environment, where you can grow in awareness of how we relate and cooperate in groups, how we are shaped by the society we grew up in and how we in turn shape society by our lives and actions.

Themes include roles within groups, working co-operatively in a group situation, behaviour in groups, dealing with conflict constructively, leadership styles, talents, and skills and strengths in leadership.

The course also questions why society is the way it is, what changes are needed and what we can do, what the important issues in our community are and how realities of gender, power, diversity, and justice impact our lives.

Completion of both the SHEP Certificate in Personal Development and the SHEP Certificate in Social Awareness and Community Empowerment Foundation Courses is necessary for entry to the SHEPs Facilitation, Continuing Personal Development and Specialised Practitioner Training courses.

The SACE is awarded for 80% attendance and will be on-going until December, with training taking place on weekends.

For more information about SHEP and courses available, click here.

For more stories about SHEP, click here.

SHEP SACE course SHEP SACE course

More:

The Social and Health Education Project opens applications for new course - I Love Limerick

Gandhi extended meaning of democracy to true independence: Modi (2nd Lead) – Outlook India

Posted on by

Gandhi extended meaning of democracy to true independence: Modi (2nd Lead)

United Nations, Sep 25 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Mahatma Gandhi extended the meaning of democracy beyond elections to people power that makes citizens free from dependence on governments.

Modi made the remarks on Tuesday while hosting the "Leadership Matters: Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in the Contemporary World" event at the UN headquarters here to commemorate Gandhi''s 150th birth anniversary.

In his address, Modi said that democracy has been limited to people electing governments and the governments doing what the people want.

But Gandhi showed people the path of having true independence through a social system not dependent on governments, he said.

At the meeting, leaders spoke about Gandhi''s influence on them and their countries.

A stamp commemorating Gandhi''s 150th birth anniversary was released at the event.

The leaders also remotely inaugurated a $1 million-solar park that will produce 50 kilowatts of electricity from the roof of the conference building at the UN headquarters and a peace garden at a university campus.

Modi asked the audience to imagine Gandhi being born in a country that was already independent and he would not have to lead a movement for independence.

He would still have led with his ideas of people power and self-help and self-reliance.

It is these ideas that are behind the people leading campaigns like ''Swachh Bharat'' and ''Digital India'', he said.

Modi recalled that Queen Elizabeth touchingly showed him a small khadi handkerchief that Gandhi had sent to her as a wedding present.

That showed that even though he was fighting the British, he still was able to maintain personal relationships of kindness, he said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "Gandhi''s ideas drive the work of the United Nations for equality, empowerment and global citizenship every day."

Many of Gandhi''s ideas foreshadow the holistic thinking behind the UN''s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said.

"To take just one example: Gandhi understood the importance of advocacy and action around the issue of sanitation and led campaigns for clean drinking water and hygienic facilities when this issue was still deeply taboo."

Gandhi''s ideas drive the work of the UN for equality, empowerment and global citizenship every day.

South Korea''s President Moon Jae-in said that Gandhi''s ideas were an inspiration for working for peace on the Korean Peninsula with North Korea.

While the Koreans were having their own non-violent independence struggle against the Japanese, they came to know of Gandhi''s campaign of boycotting British goods and they started a similar campaign.

Gandhi wrote in support of the Korean freedom-fighters imprisoned by the Japanese, Moon said.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore wanted to become independent in 1965 inspired by Gandhi''s ideals of equality of all races and religions.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took his inspiration for freedom from Gandhi.

Both her father and Gandhi were assassinated, she noted.

Bangladesh sheltering hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar was inspired by Mujibur Rahman and Gandhi.

Jamaica''s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that Gandhi''s vision of an equitable society was the inspiration for his work.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said that after the March shootings at mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 people, the Muslims opened their doors for the others to grieve with them.

They were able to break a dangerous cycle of divisiveness, she said.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

--IANS

al/ksk

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: IANS

Read more:

Gandhi extended meaning of democracy to true independence: Modi (2nd Lead) - Outlook India

Meet Jess Dewhurst, the Capetonian who led the royal visit at her NGO in Nyanga – 702

Posted on by

Capetonian Jessica Dewhurst is flying the SA flag high through her globally-recognised NPO, the Justice Desk.

On Monday, Dewhurst hosted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their visit to Nyanga where they learned more about her organisation's work.

The Justice Desk runs an empowerment initiative in Nyanga that promotes the development of children in the township.

Dewhurst, a passionate human rights advocate, says her NPO has 17 projects that run across SA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

She says the people of Nyanga have shown a great deal of passion and dedication in a joint effort to protect children in the community.

We train, equip and empower local people to lead their own change. We believe in everyday activists and our ability to change the world.

Nyanga is a very special community and it is in the news for the wrong reasons.

The Nyanga that wee see is incredible. The community workers there work everyday to protect their children and protect their human rights.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were seen showing off their dance moves and interacting with schoolchildren during their visit.

Dewhurst says that the locals were not made aware that the royal couple was coming until 2 hours before their arrival.

The organisation is supported by the Queens Commonwealth Trust, which has Harry as its president and Meghan as vice-president.

Dewhurst was selected as a Queens Young Leader for 2016 for her work at The Justice Desk.

She visited Buckingham Palace to personally receive the award from Her Majesty, the Queen of England, in 2016.

Dewhurst spoke about how The Justice Desk prepared for day and her personal encounter with the Duke and Duchess.

Listen to Jessica Dewhurst describe her organisation's work and the royal visit in detail:

Thumbnail image credit: Jessica Dewhurst on Twitter.

Excerpt from:

Meet Jess Dewhurst, the Capetonian who led the royal visit at her NGO in Nyanga - 702

A spike in women drivers – The Daily Star

Posted on by

The driver is not here. Who will take the children to school? asked Tahminas husband. I will drive them today, she says, surprising the whole family with the news that she has been secretly learning how to drive.

Tahmina, 65, former school teacher, shares her story about learning to drive when she was 33. For her, it was more of a challenge to be overcome than a necessity. My chauffeur would teach me how to drive our jeep and within eight to nine days I was on the road driving confidently. I would take my children to school, do the groceries and go to work, says Tahmina. She further mentions how the roads back then were safer and easier to navigate compared to recent traffic and congestion-filled conditions.

Dr Zareen Khair, 60, country manager of an NGO, talks about how she was inspired to drive. I would watch a Pakistani drama and watch the main actress drive her own car. I felt driving my own vehicle would give me a sense of empowerment and confidence, she shares. I learned to drive in a driving school in Dhanmondi. The first day I started to learn, I wanted to give up that very second, but I saw a much elderly woman driving in front of me and that inspired me to continue.

These stories of women who started driving 20-25 years ago fascinated everyone back then. But with time, Bangladesh has seen an increase in the number of women drivers. Although it is increasing at a slow pace, it is good to note that Bangladeshis have been showing a more positive and accepting attitude towards these changes. There are both women learners and instructors at driving schools these days a sight that was uncommon even a few years ago.

However, some problems still do arise. Zoya Rahman, 23, a university student, acquired her driving license recently, after waiting for a long time. She shares that the lengthy process makes it undesirable for drivers to try and get a license. Although she learned how to drive in Dhaka, she prefers to drive when she is out of Bangladesh.

My whole family was very happy when I learned to drive. Usually, I prefer to not depend on my chauffeur and drive myself to meet family and friends. But most of the time it becomes a hassle for me. Male drivers give me awkward stares and this disrupts my concentration while driving. The other day, a chauffeur tried to overtake my car while passing comments on me. Now my mother restricts me from driving alone, says Zoya. She expresses further concerns regarding safety issues. She once got into a situation where she was followed by a car at night which caused her mother to prohibit her from driving at night. She believes if more women drive cars in Bangladesh, it would normalise the situation.

Whilst this remains an alarming issue, Tahmina adds that she never faced any sort of harassment from drivers on the streets. Rather I am respected and drivers let me pass through as soon as they see a woman driving, she shares.

More and more women are seeking out schools to learn driving. One of the training centres, Dhaka Driving Training Center in Mohammadpur, provides a 30-class course to learn how to drive. Although all of their instructors are male, they still have 10-12 women enrolled who learn driving. We provide all the facilities needed to make women feel comfortable, says Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Director, Dhaka Driving Training Center.

Another driving institution, BRAC Driving School, currently has two women instructors. Instructors in this school have to undergo a strict process of learning for three months and later complete an internship under BRAC to fully qualify as an instructor. The school enrols about 30 women every month and about 25 percent of them are professionals while the rest learn driving for personal use.

I always felt as though driving liberates a woman and boosts her confidence. That confidence definitely reflects in your work. I remain stress-free when I go to work as we have special facilities for self-driven cars but I worry when I go shopping or run errands. The possibilities of my car parts being stolen scares me, shares Dr Zareen Khair. Her husband and parents supported her throughout her journey of self-empowerment. In fact, when we would have family events, I would be the one driving the car and always receive awkward stares from passers-by, she adds.

Previously, I used to drive every day, but now I rarely drive. I can barely find any parking space these days. Parking is a big hassle for not just women drivers but for everyone. Besides, if the construction works in Dhaka were better planned, it would free up more space for parking. Moreover, I feel driving is a waste of time because I will eventually be stuck in traffic for a long period of time, says Tahmina.

Women are now more encouraged to drive cars for both professional and personal use. They have always been into driving although it was not as widely highlighted before. If you are a woman and are having second thoughts about driving, dont fret as Bangladesh is stepping up its driving game!

See the original post:

A spike in women drivers - The Daily Star

Nicoson: ‘You are beautiful and your voice is, too’ – Brenham Banner Press

Posted on by

Jasmine Nicoson, 32-year-old Brenham native, mother of three boys (Jackson, River and Logan) and military wife, is vying to appear on the cover of Maxim magazine.

The video opens simply just her name across the screen. Soft country music sets the tone before fading into the image of a woman in front of the camera with a story to tell a confessional in its own modern rite.

She begins, Hey guys, Im here with you today to share a story with you and its a very personal storyI just havent really shared a lot of videos because weve had a little bit of a tough year.

This is my miscarriage story, which is actually two miscarriage stories, so if youre looking for a really happy upbeat video, this is not it.

Jasmine Nicoson posted the YouTube video, My Miscarriage Story, back in 2015.

Since then, the 32-year-old Brenham native has given birth to three boys, is happily married to Christopher an elite soldier in the U.S. Army, all while providing for her family and vying for the cover of Maxim magazine an outlet to share her story of heartbreak, hope, survival and sacrifice, empowering young women and mothers to recognize their beauty and inner strength.

Nicoson was born and raised in Brenham a self-professed troublemaker for talking in class or being too loud. Its a trait that would eventually allow her to provide for her family through the video website YouTube.

Its pretty ironic that my social skills and talkative behavior has now turned into an income for my family, she told The Banner-Press. I am a mom of three young boys ages 7, 2 and 10-months old and my husband is often away on deployments or training. I am very proud to say that he has bravely served many years of combat and is an elite soldier in the United States Army.

Christopher and Jasmine Nicoson are the parents of three young boys, Jackson, River and Logan.

Its important for me to be able to provide for my family while holding down the home front and being an active caregiver for my children. YouTube has provided this opportunity for us and I am so proud of how far my channel has come over the years.

The site has not only been a means of income for Nicoson, but its also served as an outlet for her to share her journey the beautiful, happy moments alongside vulnerability and struggle with a global audience.

After graduating from Brenham High School in 2005, she married her husband in 2011. Shortly after the wedding, Nicoson became pregnant with her first son.

While her husband was serving in Afghanistan, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Jackson. The reunion, of course, was caught on video and posted to YouTube.

A crowd is gathered in military fanfare as a group of soldiers in fatigues enter in formation, some in wheelchairs.

Nicoson screams her husbands name from the crowd before the national anthem plays. She bounces the newborn in her arm. They finally embrace and Christopher takes his son into his arms for the first time, Jacksons bright blue eyes twinkling.

The video has garnered more than 5.3 million views on YouTube the same site where she found herself searching for solidarity after she and Christophers first miscarriage a loss often suffered in silence.

It has always been really important to me to be transparent when talking about my multiple pregnancy losses. Talking about miscarriages is hard, but I want women to know they are not alone, Nicoson said, explaining how after that first experience, her instinct was to search online for other stories like hers.

Jasmine poses with her husband Christopher and their baby boy, Jackson.

When I had my first miscarriage, I was extremely heartbroken, as anyone could imagine. I wanted to hear if what was happening to me was normal. I wanted to know I wasnt the only person that had ever felt that pain.

I also wanted to hear stories of hope, stories of survival. I found a lot of comfort in watching women tell their stories. They were different women from different backgrounds all over the world.

After suffering a second devastating loss, she decided it was time to find her own voice and offer solace to other women searching for answers just as she was.

It was raw, unedited and real. I dont think I have ever actually watched it myself because I dont want to relive those moments. Thousands of people have watched that video and I hope that it has brought comfort to someone somewhere, Nicoson said.

She and her husband, who was often away on active duty, suffered two more miscarriages.

That was a total of four of our children that went to heaven before we even had a chance to meet them, she said, explaining that after meeting with an infertility specialist, the couple discovered that Nicoson had a gene mutation, MTHFR, that can cause miscarriages among other ailments. They developed a plan and she started taking medication in order to help her body sustain the pregnancy.

It worked! Nicoson said.

After the four devastating losses, their Rainbow Baby, River, arrived in December of 2016. Christopher was deployed to Afghanistan again when River was only 20 days old (theres a video of that homecoming, too).

Then the couple became pregnant with their youngest son Logan right before Christopher left for yet another deployment and came home just a few weeks before his third sons arrival.

Military families make a lot of sacrifices. The spouses that I know personally are some of the most resilient people I have ever met. They work hard 24/7. They are faithful to their husbands and dont give up easily, Nicoson said. They throw Christmas parties, they raise money for charities, they take care of their children with disabilities, they help others out when they are struggling.

They care for their husbands with PTSD, brain injuries, and/or physical injuries from this 18-year-long war. Frankly, military spouses are badasses. Military spouses dont serve our country; they serve their families, communities and friends and they are damn good at doing so.

Now, as a mother of three young boys, Nicoson is embarking on her latest venture to spread a message of empowerment by entering into a competition to be on the cover of Maxim.

There are several rounds of voting to narrow down the competition, with the winner chosen by the public. Currently, in the fourth round, she is ranked second in her category.

And while there are plenty of naysayers who may disapprove of her endeavor, Nicoson is steadfast in her motivations and embodies strength and confidence in sharing her story.

The reason I am in this competition is not just to be on the cover of Maxim magazine. I am hoping to use this as an outlet to share my story and empower other women to do the same, the young mother said.

There will be naysayers and thats okay. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I am proud of how far I have come. Im proud to share my story. I am a confident, strong woman and I love my body. Why not?

My message to all women is, Life is short. Go out there and live your dream. Share your story. What you have to say is important. You are beautiful and your voice is, too!

Nicoson also noted how winning the competition would open doors for her and her family that were previously closed.

If I won this competition, I would take my husband on the honeymoon that we were never able to take. He supports me in this competition and in all my endeavors. Hes such a hardworking man and he deserves a vacation. It doesnt really matter where we go, as long as we can spend that one-on-one time together.

The remainder of the money, she said, will be donated to the Green Beret Foundation and then split between her children her biggest blessing!

So far, she has raised more than $1,200 in the competition for charity. If you would like to make a donation to Jarred Allens Homes for Wounded Warriors, place a Warrior Vote ($1 equals one vote).

If youd like to support Nicoson in the Maxim Cover Girl Competition, individuals can vote for free once a day by visiting https://maximcovergirl.com/2019/jasmine-nicoson.

To hear more of Nicosons story, visitwww.YouTube.com/jasminenicoson.

See the original post:

Nicoson: 'You are beautiful and your voice is, too' - Brenham Banner Press