People of all ages joined together this past Thursday to celebrate the 21st birthday for Eastern Michigan University’s Women’s Resource Center. A birthday party that celebrated the past, present, and future of the WRC was held in the Student Center Ballroom.
The family-friendly environment consisted of games and activities for younger children to get involved in. Arts and crafts were also a major hit for the night. Volunteers had different tables set up for multiple fun and creative activities like face painting and balloon animals.
“I had a good time,” said freshman, Lynda Hall, who was sporting a zebra face painting and a monkey balloon animal. “It was a lot of fun.”
Volunteers hosted different birthday games, such as: musical chairs, the limbo, high-heel relay, and more. There were also tables set up for smaller games. For each game played, participants received raffle tickets that could be redeemed for prizes that were donated by Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor businesses; Buffalo Wild Wings, Putterz Golf, and Tower Inn Café are just a few of the businesses that donated prizes.
Before the WRC’s 21st birthday, it started out as a student group named Womyn’s Space and has since evolved from there. At first, funding wasn’t available, but starting in the late 1990s, Student Government stepped in and began providing funding.
“We have always been run strictly by students, and that hasn’t changed much,” said Jess Klein, program coordinator for the WRC. “They really are at the core of everything we do.”
There are two different areas within the WRC. The first area involves a lot of programming, such as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness, Assault Awareness Month, Women’s History Month, The Vagina Monologues, and more. The second area deals with offering resources, support, and assistance.
“If someone is looking for resources because they are trying to get out of an abusive relationship, we have that,” Klein said.” “If a friend is looking to help another friend who may have been sexually assaulted, we can do that. If someone just wants to come and talk to someone about an experience, we offer that. Some folks call looking for financial resources; although we don’t provide any through our funding, we absolutely do our best to link them with grant and scholarship opportunities that they may qualify for. Same thing goes for housing and childcare.”
“We also go into classrooms and talk about what we do. We talk about body image, sexual assault, and domestic violence,” Klein said. “RA’s will contact us to come and do programs for the residence halls, too.”
Students can request free toiletries there, too.
Although it’s a women’s center, it is described as “a platform for creativity, discovery, and growth for all people. Men are not and will never be excluded from our activities, opportunities, resources or services,” according to the Women’s Resource Center website. “Women and men need to work
together as equal partners to eradicate issues and move toward a society based on mutual respect and understand. We hope to start, support, and sustain that process.”
One of the largest changes that had occurred within the WRC is that the 2011-2012 school years will mark the very first full year that the WRC has funded an actual Program Coordinator position.
“I’ve worked here since 2003 in hopes of having this position one day after I graduated,” Klein said. “It’s so great to have the support of the university and finally see this happen. We have lots to celebrate.
Hence, the dance floor, games and prizes.
But in celebrating, the center wanted to give back to the community; everyone attending was asked to bring birthday gifts on the wish list, according to Klein.
“What’s a birthday party without gifts?” she said.
Items on the list included: new pillows, toiletries, cleaning supplies, underwear and bras, non-perishable food, winter clothes, diapers and wipes, laundry detergent, and other clothes and supplies. All of the wish list items will be donated to organizations like SafeHouse Center, OZONE House, and other non-profit organizations. Gift-givers earned two raffle tickets for every item that they brought.
As far as the future of the Women’s Resource Center, Klein was optimistic.
“Just wait and see. Here’s to another 21 years,” Klein said.
