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Washington Women In Need Serves Client Number
3000
Non-profit
in its 13th year of helping women who live just above
survival level
Washington Women
In Need (WWIN), a local non-profit that
pays for dental services, mental health counseling,
insurance premiums and education for poor women, recently
helped its 3000th client obtain much-needed dental work.
Susan
M., a resident of Castle Rock, had to give up her minimum-wage
job when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As if
the stresses of having cancer and no source of income
were not enough, Susan’s chemotherapy ravaged
her teeth, causing them to break off and fall out. Her
dental condition was painful, humiliating and prohibitively
expensive to fix, all at the same time Susan’s
cancer treatment was only partly covered by her Medicare
and supplemental insurance, and its cost left her no
money for dental work. Through a WWIN grant, Susan was
able to get a new smile and reclaim her self-esteem.
“There isn’t a big enough word,” she
told WWIN “Gratitude. Awesome. Thank you just
isn’t enough.”
WWIN
has been making grants that improve the quality of life
for low-income women since 1992. The organization targets
those who are poor without being destitute. These women
often fall into a “no man’s land”
as far as qualifying for financial assistance: they
are not poor enough to get aid, but they are too poor
to buy the services they need. Essentially, they are
stuck in frustrating and unhealthy situations. They
usually learn of WWIN’s services through other
helping organizations in the community. When a few slots
- most recently 34 of the them, become available once
per quarter, they are snapped up, literally, within
minutes.
WWIN
depends on donations from charitable individuals and
organizations to fund their work. For the current period,
July 2004 - June 2005, WWIN’s budget totals $675,
while the estimated number of women across Washington
State who could make good use of the grants is 225,000.
All donations go directly to the Programs, because WWIN’s
founder, Julia Pritt, personally covers 100% of WWIN’s
operating costs.
For
some women, like Susan, a WWIN grant is the way to eliminate
the distress and stigma of having no teeth, whether
the cause is poverty and neglect, illness, physical
abuse, or accidents. For other grantees, the monies
provide an opportunity to treat their depression and
live a richer life. Many women want to be better providers
and good role models for their children, and for them
this means going back to school.
“We
take a unique approach to helping women who fall through
the cracks of the system. Our clients are self-directed
and show tremendous courage, and we have made a profound
difference in their lives,” says Kathy Young,
WIWN’s Program Manager.
“Our
work has an incredible effect on women in communities
throughout Washington,” Young emphasizes. “We
want to get the word out to potential supporters about
the needs out there and the help we provide.”
More
information about WWIN is available on the Web at www.wawomeninneed.org.
They can be reached at (425) 451-8838.
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2285 116th Avenue NE, Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: 425-451-8838. Toll Free: 888-440-WWIN
Email: wwininfo@wawomeninneed.org
webmaster@wawomeninneed.org
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