Staff member Pitoula Merina Alesana-Sefo is honoring her mother (pictured) for Women's History Month.
March is Women’s History Month and staff members at Dungarvin, a national organization that provides services for people in need of supports, are celebrating all of the women they admire.
From Dungarvin’s founding by Diane and Tim Madden in 1976, to all of the early pioneers who helped establish the organization’s unwavering commitment to quality, innovation and integrity, women have played an integral role in the direct support industry, as well as Dungarvin’s own expanding operations and success across the country.
According to PHI, formerly the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, roughly 85 percent of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) in the U.S. are women. DSPs are predominantly women at Dungarvin as well, making up about 67 percent of the workforce.
Greta Goins (pictured), a Dungarvin Indiana Area Director, is being honored by colleague Terri Baber.
This month, Dungarvin employees can submit photos and stories about the women they admire, including colleagues, famous people or women in their personal lives. The company is sharing these contributions internally and on social media.
First, There was Women’s History Week
Women’s History Month actually began as a local recognition week, in March 1978, in Santa Rosa, California, sponsored by the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women. Across the country and world, awareness was increasing about the long-standing omission of women’s contributions from historical narratives. This was accompanied by rising
Dungarvin Social Media Specialist Isabella Johnson is honoring her mom for Women's History Month.
dissatisfaction about the lack of women represented in decision-making positions, both in the public and private sectors.
In 1980, the National Women’s Alliance (formerly the National Women’s History Project) lobbied for national recognition of Women’s History Week, and that year, President Jimmy Carter made it official. Seeing that many states had successfully expanded Women’s History Week, Congress passed a law in 1987 designating March as Women’s History Month.
Dungarvin is proud to recognize and honor the contributions of women in history, as well as their ongoing contributions to Dungarvin’s mission to respect and respond to the choices of people in need of supports.