Empowering Women in Toledo During COVID-19
Today we wanted to share how our Toledo office has been empowering women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meet Corine Dehabey: the Program Director at US Together in Toledo. Since 2003, Corine has had a particular passion for working with the refugee women served by the office. She dreams of a future for these women that involves many possibilities, including employment, higher education, travel, and more – all opportunities that were unlikely to happen in their home nation, due to war, religious persecution, or strict cultural gender roles.
In particular, Corine has been running mental health groups for these refugee women for several years now, bringing in guest speakers from cultural institutions, the local health department, universities, and more to talk about all the opportunities available to them in the area. These group sessions are full of laughter, jokes, and camaraderie, but they also offer moments of hope that allow clients to dream for a better future for themselves and their families. Several of these women have been empowered to take proactive steps towards changing their lives such as applying for their first job and enrolling in college for the first time.
In this time of uncertainty due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Corine continues to provide space and time for Toledo-area refugee women to have these conversations, currently in the form of weekly group Skype calls and peer support groups. She is still bringing in guest speakers to educate these women on the news and current health practices, as well as hosting open Q&A sessions for the women to open up about unique struggles they may be facing. This allows them to support each other with advice from their own lives. She also goes live on a private Facebook group to help disseminate the latest news on the pandemic, sharing photos, documents, and announcements from governments and other officials. Even during a global shutdown, Corine strives to give refugee women in Toledo a platform to learn, grow, and succeed. To ensure the continuation of Corine's work, make a donation today.