{"id":10254,"date":"2023-05-01T20:35:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T20:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=10254"},"modified":"2023-05-01T21:31:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T21:31:45","slug":"for-the-womens-commission-the-issues-and-the-dedication-of-members-havent-changed-in-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2023\/05\/01\/for-the-womens-commission-the-issues-and-the-dedication-of-members-havent-changed-in-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"For the Women\u2019s Commission, the issues \u2013 and the dedication \u2013 haven\u2019t changed in decades"},"content":{"rendered":"
A little over a decade ago, when Ruebe Holmes was a student at Duke University double-majoring in history and African American studies, her family lived in a homeless shelter in Durham. She visited them on weekends.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy siblings were dealing with a lot, with the homeless stigma,\u201d said Holmes.<\/span><\/p>\n That experience is one of her many motivations for serving on the Durham County Women\u2019s Commission. In 2019, as a member of the commission, Holmes helped organize an event that helped women at the shelter her family called home just five years earlier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The event included panel discussions of homelessness and domestic violence. Attendees donated sanitary napkins, which were later given to women living at the shelter. It was a full-circle experience for Holmes, who now chairs the commission.<\/span><\/p>\n The group, which has a dual mission to serve the community by organizing events and advising the Durham County Board of Commissioners, has been advocating for Durham\u2019s women since its founding in 1987. An Instagram post from the group last month said, \u201cWE NEED EQUAL PAY NOW,\u201d a sentence that sounds like it could have been written in the 1980s (or even earlier).<\/span><\/p>\n Leaders of the commission say the group has always played an important role, addressing the unique challenges that Durham women face. When the group was founded, the leaders aimed to keep the community informed on available resources and encourage women to advocate for themselves. The difficulties women faced in the \u201980s \u2014 homelessness, lack of access to healthcare, and workplace discrimination \u2014 have not abated in the 21st century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n