Your gently used Dior purse could change someone’s life. So could the impossibly snug jeans, the outgrown baby clothes, or your gift of time. Montgomery County Women’s Center (MCWC) relies on your donations, whether they’re material goods or volunteered time.
Last year, WCMC received 47,468 crisis hotline calls, provided shelter for 1056 women and their dependent children, and accompanied 819 sexual assault victims to emergency rooms. MCWC couldn’t function without the generosity of our community.
Sarah Raleigh, MCWC’s President and CEO, said the center’s goal is to listen to survivors and empower them to live a violence-free and financially viable life. MCWC’s emergency shelter accommodates 75 people. It’s often full. MCWC offers longer-term transitional housing, too, where residents pay nominal rent, receive counseling, and work toward financial stability by finding work, learning a trade, or furthering their education.
“We operate on a very small budget,” Sarah said. The women’s center relies on its volunteers, especially at the Something Special resale shop. “The shop’s our number one way the programs are funded — 100% of the proceeds fund the center,” she said.
Something Special relies not only on volunteers to staff the store but on your donations. Donated items are sold in the shop, used in the shelter, or fulfill wish lists. Everyone leaving transitional housing receives clothing, furniture, and housewares from the store to set up their new home.
“Besides the store, we need help almost anywhere you can imagine,” Sarah said, from assisting with children’s activities to counseling to administrative and yard work.
Ally Seder — MCWC Board Member and recipient of the Woman of Distinction Award for her contributions to the center — gives generously of her time. In 2010, Ally toured the shelter to better understand everything MCWC did. “The shelter tour blew me away. I pictured a very clinical setting, and it was just the opposite! It felt so warm and inviting,” she said. “Everyone pitched in to help.” Family-style meals and movie nights build a sense of community.
She noticed the shelter’s “store” contained donated clothing, toiletries, school supplies, and purses. Everything was free. “Many flee their homes in the middle of the night in their bathrobes and don’t even have their purse. That’s where the idea of “Open Your Purse for Change” was born,” Ally said.
The “Open Your Purse for Change” fundraiser auctions donated new or gently used handbags and wallets in October. All proceeds go to MCWC. Volunteers make this event possible, too.
For more information, visit MCWC's website.
Last year, WCMC received 47,468 crisis hotline calls, provided shelter for 1056 women and their dependent children, and accompanied 819 sexual assault victims to emergency rooms. MCWC couldn’t function without the generosity of our community.