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From Our BPWNC President:
The last six months have turned us into homebodies but there are some who already had been homebound before that. Do you live with someone who seldom or never leaves their home? I had that experience when I was growing up. My elderly grandmother lived with us in an in-law unit. She came to live with us when I was four and her apartment building was being torn down to make way for the new hospital in town.
She went to church monthly and then had friends visit her from time to time. Yet as she aged so did, they and she had fewer and fewer visits. Therefore, she relied on her family for care and company. My mom went shopping for her and helped her with laundry and cleaning. She dined with us weekly and for special holidays. She joined us for slide shows of family vacations and outings. She enjoyed playing card games and I was a frequent challenger. I kept her company after school and snacked on her freshly baked cookies. As time passed, I took on more and more responsibilities. I learned that I did not want to become a nurse (my mom was a doctor so she helped out in really personal situations) but I did like to spend time with her sharing stories and watching tv. “I Love Lucy” was one of our favorites. Sadly, she broke her hip and passed away my first semester away at college at the age of 98! I was blessed to have been able to share most of my childhood with her.
My other grandma came to live with my mom when my dad had passed away. I was no longer living at home but did come to visit regularly. She and her daughter (my mom) got along fine and my mom was able to be her primary caregiver. When my mom had health issues I was working full time and taking care of my own family and even though we lived just a half an hour away from each other I was not able to visit her enough to be her caregiver. We were blessed that she had a live-in companion she had met at church and lived there rent free in exchange for taking care of my mom. She was a great friend but when my mom’s health necessitated additional attention, we were able to hire an in-home professional. My mom’s friend still lived there but was gone to school for most of the day. During the later months of my mom’s life we needed full time care and hired another home health care nurse. Finally, my mom’s health had diminished that we needed to have home hospice. I never met that person, but my brother did since his schedule was much more flexible than mine. I know that her last few weeks were made more comfortable because of the services provided by hospice.
I am blessed to know that she was relatively pain free in her last days on earth. I am thankful too for all the amazing care provided to her even more so since I was unable to be there in person as much as was needed. There are wonderful people in this world who have chosen a path that eases others in the transition from life to death. It gives me much peace.
Moving Forward, Mary, president
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Even though we are all still experiencing the restrictions of COVID19, your Scholarship Board remains at work. Below is your latest Helga Rohl Encouragement Award (HREA) awardee’s personal essay, her photo and her thank you note. Thanks to the generosity of BPWNC members, the scholarship support of re-entry women continues.
KATIE JOHNSON - Essay
“My name is Katie Johnson. I was born and raised in Nevada County. I attended Union Hill Elementary school and Nevada Union High School. In high school I played for the basketball and volleyball team. After graduation in 2014, I moved to San Luis Obispo and attended Cuesta Community College for a year. My first year of college challenged me in many ways. After my first year of school I was not 100% satisfied and felt that at the time school was not the right choice for me. In the summer of 2015, I made the choice to not go to school. While working I met people and went on a cross-country road trip. When I returned from this six-week adventure I came home and then went to Europe for eight weeks alone. While away I was around many people and able to experience and hear many different stories and cultures. When I returned home, I was able to make the decision to return to school. I completed my Associates Degree at Sierra College. From Sierra College I transferred to CSU Chico. I graduated from CSU in 2019. After graduation I had an internship with Pebble Beach Company foundation and Pebble Beach Company. At that time, I finally felt like I was where I needed to be for myself and my career. That changed when the pandemic happened, and my job was eliminated.
With this chaos in the world it allowed me to come home and reevaluate my long-term goals in both my life and my career. Teaching was something that I had always considered but after failing my math class my first semester of school, it pushed me away from the teaching path. Now, knowing my abilities and everything I have achieved in my schooling career I know that a failure should not stop me from pursuing something. With the opportunity of coming home it has let me think about the various things that I want in my life and teaching is one. I am young right now and have the best opportunity to change my career and make it something meaningful. I chose the hospitality industry because I love service and people. Teaching is a spin on that. Teaching, in my opinion, will be more rewarding and still allow me to tap into the areas that I love most, service and people.”
 Dear BPW—
Thank you so much for supporting me in my educational goals. I’m looking forward to being able to teach in Nevada County and encourage others. Again, thank you for your support of our community.
Sincerely, Katie Johnson
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From Melissa Morgan:
To Business & Professional Women of Nevada County
August 24, 2020
Re: Dolores “Dee” Eldridge Scholarship Award
I wanted to write this letter to thank you for awarding me with the generous gift of $1000. I am humbled to be chosen as a recipient for these funds and was so excited to learn that I received an award.
My college journey began many years ago right out of high school. I only attended a few semesters and then decided not to continue with school. I was working full time and in an unhealthy relationship, my partner was threatened by my education and I allowed his insecurities of that to persuade me to quit. Fast forward 20 years, I am now a single mom with two teenagers and work full time. As soon as I split from my ex, I signed up for Sierra College. I have been taking courses online for five years, and at first did not know what direction I was headed in with my schooling. As the years and courses have progressed, I am working towards my BA in Sociology. This next semester I am taking the last three pre-req courses I need to be able to attend Chico State. I applied for Chico on August 1 of this year and plan on attending starting this next spring. Your generous donation means a lot to me; it will help purchase books for my courses. However, it will also help make a few car payments, six months of insurance for my car and fill any gaps with needs for my children and myself. In May, I finally purchased a newer vehicle. I had been driving $1000 specials for the last six years, which last me a year or two and then get a cracked head or some major breakdown. I really do have to pinch my pennies to make sure I can fulfill my financial obligations and living expenses.
In closing, thank you again for selecting me for the Dolores “Dee” Eldridge Scholarship award. These monies will be put to good use and help ease my mind of financial worries while I pursue my education. My family really does appreciate you and your gift!
Thank you,
Melissa Morgan
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Re: Dolores “Dee” Eldridge Scholarship Award
Dear Members of the Business and Professional Women of Nevada County,
As a recipient of the 2020 Dolores “Dee” Eldridge Scholarship, I wanted to thank you for awarding me this scholarship. I was very excited to learn that I had been selected as the winner of this scholarship and am very appreciative of your support toward my continuing education goals.
I will graduate from Sierra College in December 2020 with A. S. degrees in Business Administration and Accounting. I plan to transfer to William Jessup University to earn my B. S. in Business Administration in Spring 2121. Currently, I work full-time for Nevada County in the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office as an Accounting Technician, and I work part-time for Nevada City Winery on the weekends. I have also been the Board Treasurer for the Rudiger Foundation since January 2019. Because of this scholarship, I will be able to focus more on my studies and will be able to reduce the number of hours I work per week at the winery.
Thank you again for your investment in older students like myself. By awarding me the Dolores “Dee” Eldridge Scholarship, I am one step closer to reaching my career goals of becoming the Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector someday. I hope that one day I will also be able to help a student to achieve their goals as you’ve helped me. Continuing my studies would not be possible without the generous support from scholarship programs like this one.
Thank you for making this possible.
Shauneen Deschaine
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TIME TO VOTE – BE PREPARED
We will soon be filling out our ballots for the November 3, 2020 election. To assist you in making your decisions, your board points you to the following resources.
General voting information and resources are available at the League of Women Voters of Western Nevada County website,
https://my.lwv.org/california/western-nevada-county.
That includes:
- Recordings of prior candidate forums for local races, including for the county board of education
- Pros and Cons of state propositions and the League’s recommendations
- A video on election security with our Registrar of Elections.
U.S. House of Representatives: election for our Congressional representative for District 1: candidates Audrey Denney and Doug LaMalfa (incumbent) will debate at 6 pm on October 14. You may submit questions to the candidates in advance, by noon October 13, at info@lwvwnc.org.
The event will be live-streamed on Nevada County Media’s website, YouTube.com channel and Facebook page, and broadcasted to Comcast channel 18. It will be available to view afterwards on the Nevada County Media Government Channel on YouTube.com.
As you have likely heard elsewhere: Plan your vote and vote early. In this centennial year of Women’s Right to Vote, let’s all get informed and VOTE!
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County Board of Ed Election
BPWNC directors discussed the upcoming election for the Nevada County Board of Education at its Oct. 7 board meeting, and decided to recommend to members the following non-partisan slate of candidates: Julie Baker, Susan Clarabut, Louise Johnson and Timothy May. This slate is fully endorsed by Holly Hermansen and Terry McAteer, both former (and highly respected) County Superintendents of Schools. Terry McAteer has said, "The extreme far right is attempting a stealth campaign to take control of the Nevada County Board of Education in this year's election. Four of the five seats are being challenged. We need your help to maintain sanity on this elected board."
One of the candidates,
Louise Johnson, wrote this in her letter to supporters:
A very troubling dark side of this opportunity is the growing divisiveness that has gripped our country, our community and even this Board election. Unfortunately, the far right is running a slate of candidates to take over our School Board. Their campaign slogan is to “Take back our schools.” They have been observed rallying and speaking in public to negate the careful decisions of our locally elected district school board members. They want to dictate policies and curriculum to our local schools that are in conflict with state laws and guidelines.They speak against the carefully developed recommendations of our local teachers and administrators.
The County Board has no jurisdiction or authority over our local school districts’ decision making. Our role is to work collaboratively with the elected county Superintendent of Schools, Scott Lay, to oversee the county budget, support great programs like arts education, and oversee the schools and programs that come under the jurisdiction of the County Office of Education. It is not our role to interfere in the operation of school district boards. Moreover, it is not the role of a board member to disrupt the work of the Board with conspiracy theories and personal ideology outside of our jurisdiction.
I strongly urge you to vote for experience, reason and integrity on the Nevada County Board of Education. We can all vote for any candidate, regardless of where we live in the county. We need your support and your vote for Julie Baker, Susan Clarabut, Louise Johnson and Timothy May. We are in a race for the heart of our schools in 2020.
The BPWNC Board thanks you for your consideration of this information when marking your ballot.
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CA LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS: HIGHLIGHTING BPWNC SUCCESSES
It’s been a unique legislative year, 2020! Despite shortened timelines for lawmakers to consider and pass its proposals, and despite COVID restrictions, BPWNC had significant advocacy successes. Here are a select few that will have high impact on improving equity for women.
NEW LAWS ENACTED IN 2020.
- Addressing gender discrimination in higher education:SB 493 will help ensure that CA colleges and universities have better procedures to prevent and respond to sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment and assault.
- Addressing the gender pay gap: SB 973 will require large private employers to report specific pay data each year, by gender, race and ethnicity, to better monitor and help address persistent pay gaps for women and minorities.
- Improving family leave: SB 1383 will provide greater job protections for pregnancy leave or leave to care for family members, protecting workers from losing their jobs after taking family leave: (a) for those working for smaller employers, those employing 5 or more, and (b) for those needing leave to care for additional family members, such as siblings, grandchildren and grandparents; together, these changes will cover up to 6 million more workers.
- Improving pregnancy care for incarcerated women: AB 732 will require specific medical treatment and services for pregnant and post-partum women who are incarcerated in prison or jails, as well as for their newborns.
These new laws, and others we have advocated for this year, will enhance women’s lives. They advance the rights and interests of California women, especially working women. By promoting these proposals all along the way to enactment, we are serving the mission of BPWNC and members’ interests and equity for women.
Thank you all for your support.
Elaine Sierra
Advocacy Chair
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2020 BPW DONORS
THANK YOU to the following members and
friends for their generous contribution
to the BPW Scholarship Fund
Shannon Cotter
Grass Valley Eye Care
Lanette Howard
Harold Madden
Robin Mallery/Heart Matters
Judith McCarrick
Elaine Sierra
Lynn Wenzel
Jacquelyn Wilson
Shirley Zeff
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Club Business
Now that we have more home time help get the word out. Please send names and email addresses of your friends and family to Phyllis porzalli@att.net. to join the growing list of friends of BPWNC. They will receive our monthly newsletter which will inform them of all the good stuff happening with our organization. No need to be living in Nevada County
Thank you
~ Membership, Deb Armanino 415-786-1160
*** Please add Phyllis Orzalli e-mail (porzalli@att.net) to your address book to ensure it does not go to junk!
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Business and Professional Women of Nevada County
is to support and promote equity for women in all aspects of their lives.
Objectives
~To promote personal and professional development for working women.
~To advocate on National, State, and Local legislative issues of importance
to working women.
~To support the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
~To promote the education of our members and the community in matters of women's equality as it relates to economics, employment, health, education, housing, civil rights, and other issues of equal opportunity.
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Interested in joining our dynamic group of women?
Want to take on a lead role in our organization?
We need active members who have time and interest
in being a board member: president, vice president, secretary,
treasurer or program committee.
For only a few hours a month you can guide future endeavors of our great group. Please contact Mary Sivila at 530-346-7192 or email her at marysivila@yahoo.com to discuss the great possibilities!
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November 18th Program
The program will be presented by Jennifer Singer, Executive Director of Bright
Futures for Youth, the new nonprofit formed with the merger of The Friendship
Club and NEO Youth Center. She will be sharing the news of how they are
helping several hundred young people a year with academic, emotional and
social support - even during the pandemic.
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Our speaker will be Mary Anne Davis, Marketing and Event Manager for Hospice of the Foothills. Since 1979 Hospice of the Foothills has provided compassionate care and Professional medical services.
