JARENE
STANFORD
I am 100% committed. Once I pick a cause or a board, I'm there for whatever, whenever," says Jarene Stanford, who is not only president of the Women's Foundation but a board member of seven other boards.
"I'm a professional volunteer," she continued. "It is a fulltime job and if I find a board is being run by a clique or is less than dedicated, I'm gone. I spend my time with organizations where time spent makes a difference. The Women's Foundation is an excellent example of lives being changed." And her goal, as president, is to double the endowment from $3 to $6 million. "We still have $800,000 to raise and the deadline is December," she worried.
One way money is raised is by Field of Interest funds whereby an individual or foundation will address certain fund uses. "The arts have always been low on the totem pole," Stanford explained, "yet these are the self-esteem builders." Another teaches financial literacy to women. "Abused women come out of the shelters and don't have a clue how to handle family finances," she said.
An outspoken women's advocate, Stanford declares, "I am always amazed at the incredible strength of women." She has just returned from Ghana with Women's Vision International, which provides loans for women to start very small businesses. "Men aren't interested in the small sums we can fund," she said, "but for women, it makes a big difference."
Right now, Stanford is most excited about bringing the national Real Woman Project to Kansas City, sponsored locally by the Women's Exchange. "Our biggest problem for women's self esteem is the media's image of us, the "Barbie doll look." Real Women are 35 sculptures in all shapes and sizes and ages; one even has a mastectomy and their stories range from bulimia to obesity, from health to disease and back again. They will make a difference. As does Jarene Stanford.
After more lives than a cat in high impact/high profile public service, what bugs Elizabeth Ossorio the most? Her four-word answer is a succinct summary of a lifetime spent helping others.
"Sales tax on food. There are simply too many hungry people. Nobody should have to pay tax on basic
necessities," said the Kansas City founder of The Eve Project. That project, started when Ossorio was only 76, is an advocate for Kansas City's poor and frail elderly, providing trained volunteer case managers to assess individual needs and help people stay out of nursing homes.
Ossorio researched, created, lobbied and had legislation passed for the non-profit Eve Project and until recently was the unpaid executive director. The project is funded by a combination of public and private funds.
Project Eve was a long time incubating. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Ossorio escaped from there in 1938 and earned a Ph.D in sociology from Washington University, St. Louis. Marriage and three children didn't slow her down from careers in teaching, research, public health and social service. At the age of 75, she was appointed to the White House Conference on Aging which emphasized the importance of enabling elderly citizens to age in place (in their own homes).
Learning the poor elderly are likely to be placed involuntarily in nursing homes and admiring the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for children program, Ossorio created the Eve Project, which last year served 103 elderly, mainly in midtown and northeast Kansas City. "We started out with the zipcode 9," she said, "but found we couldn't restrict it that much. The area kept growing." Requests from Kansas City, Kansas are referred to Kansas agencies.
Now, age 80, Ossorio looks back at her career and says her greatest satisfaction came from her work in public health. "It was a time when the first community mental health centers were being built. I traveled all over a seven-state area and worked to get better service for the prevention and care of the mentally ill. It was an exciting time."