Unique to Baltimore, Enterprise Women’s Network (EWN) supports and compliments Enterprise’s nonprofit work. EWN channels the energies of women across the Mid-Atlantic region toward helping low-income women improve their quality of life for their children, families and communities. Focusing primarily on the city neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester, one of the original communities targeted for redevelopment by Enterprise in the 1990s, EWN actively participates in, provides oversight for and funds programs within the 72-square-block community.
Women Helping Women has been EWN’s motto since its inception. Their programs, like the mentoring program at Pinderhughes Elementary/Middle School, are designed to improve the lives of young girls and their families in this low-income Baltimore neighborhood. The mentoring program has a dedicated group of mentors meets that with students from third to eighth grades twice a month, giving them both individual attention and a view of the world beyond their immediate community.
EWN’s approach to making a difference is four-pronged: advocacy, networking, philanthropy and volunteerism.
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EWN advocates for protecting and advancing legislation, policies and programs that support and strengthen Enterprise’s critical work, as related to affordable housing, education and community building.
In 2003, EWN championed an effort to expand Kelson Elementary School to include a middle school. Enterprise petitioned the Baltimore City Public School Board, and EWN led an intense letter-writing campaign and testified before the city’s school board. The strategy was successful, and the students now benefit from a familiar, nurturing environment for growing and learning.
Annually, EWN supports Enterprise’s mission to preserve Section 4 funding from the federal government. This funding supports Enterprise’s community development platform across the country. EWN members contact their legislative representatives to encourage them to maintain this funding in the federal budget.
Women’s mutual life experiences connect them and create a desire and commitment to support one another. EWN members reach out to their own friends and family members to broaden Enterprise’s reach and strengthen its impact in Baltimore.
Since its inception, EWN has raised more than $1.4 million to support Enterprise’s work in Baltimore. Its fundraising efforts include the foundations and corporations and its Impact Giving Circles, hosted by EWN members.
Since EWN’s launch, its members have contributed more than 13,000 volunteer hours. The EWN mentoring program at Pinderhughes Elementary/Middle School provides mutual learning and fun activities for young girls and their mentors. EWN members are currently providing mentoring to 35 girls.
EWN members generously support its partner school’s annual coat and uniform drives. Additionally, more than 10,000 books have been provided to students and school media centers through EWN’s ongoing library project. |
With a strong steering committee comprised of women and men from across Baltimore and co-chaired by Pat Tunstall and Anne London, EWN works to spread the message of Enterprise throughout the Baltimore region. .
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Debbie Attman and 8th grade student Kenshawna Lewis |
EWN’s mentoring program is off to a terrific start. Thirty-five mentors were matched with 35 third-through-eighth-grade students. With the strong support of Principal Frederico Adams at Pinderhughes Elementary/Middle School, the mentors are transforming the lives of girls in a low-income neighborhood.
“Mentoring makes a huge difference in the girls’ lives and their futures,” said Tiffany Tate, co-chair of the EWN mentoring committee. Many of the mentors have developed strong relationships with their mentees – 30 of the mentors are women who have returned from previous years.
New to the mentor program this year is the “Reap What You S.O.E.” challenge. This is a contest where participants earn points for taking care of Self, Others and the Environment. Groups are judged in the following areas:
- Attendance (Self): Mentors and mentees earn points for attending school, mentoring sessions and activities.
- Physical Activity (Self): Mentors and mentees earn points for documented physical activity. Mentees use pedometers to track their activity.
- Giving Back (Others): Groups select their “Giving Back” projects and earn points for volunteering within and outside of the mentoring program.
- Environment: Students earn points for efforts to protect the environment.
While the mentoring program is currently having a positive impact on the lives of 35 girls, with additional mentors, even more lives could be transformed. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, email Patricia Richards or phone 410.230.2284.
AXA Advisors employees, Enterprise staff and local community members painted hallways and bathrooms, and landscaped the front of the Pinderhughes Elementary/Middle School. The “Day of Caring” was held as part of President Obama’s United We Serve initiative, and will hopefully become an annual event.
Anne London, EWN co-chair said, “It is amazing what a difference a coat of paint and a few flowers can make! It was a blast.”
About 60 people from the AXA and Enterprise offices, Pinderhughes and the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood pitched in to make the EWN-sponsored school an inviting and inspiring place to learn. Even some current and past Pinderhughes students and their parents came to paint classrooms and plant gardens.
Warm thanks goes to AXA Advisors, LLC and the AXA Foundation, who provided food and supplies; AXA employees David Ciotta, Kate Salzman and Bud McManus for their diligent efforts in arranging the event; Enterprise employees Lenora Henry, Kelly Cartales and Tina Hike-Hubbard; and Pinderhughes Principal Adams, who coordinated the logistics and made it a fun and rewarding day for all participants.
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