Berrien Community Foundation Women’s Giving Circle starts resource website

Published 9:23 am Thursday, July 25, 2019

BERRIEN COUNTY — The Berrien Community Foundation Women’s Giving Circle launched a new resource website for women and families in Berrien County Tuesday.

Help4Her.org is meant to help Berrien County women and families find the programs and services they need, said BCF staff.

The resource website is meant to help people search for programs and services that are available in Berrien County. Searches can be done by both location and topic, said staff.

There are also links for services a family may need if they are in crisis, like food, housing and mental health resources.

The site is meant for anyone seeking services or to help people who mentor others and need to refer someone for additional help.

“As the Women’s Giving Circle worked to identify how we could impact women in our community, we recognized that one of the things we relied on most in our own lives was the ability to network throughout a system,” said Women’s Giving Circle member Sarah Jollay. “Help4Her creates that opportunity for another set of women while also supporting the resource providers.”

The Women’s Giving Circle found that women tend to feel more comfortable with resources that are identified specifically for them, staff said. Help4Her.org recognizes that women are often the people seeking outside resources for their families, whether it is emergency assistance or long-term childcare.

Before becoming public, the site was reviewed by agencies that often refer women and families to other services — Department of Health and Human Services, libraries and other community service agencies.

“It is impressively comprehensive,” said Niles District Library Director Nancy Studebaker. “The categories make sense, enough to be able to narrow in on the topic you’re looking for but not so many that it is confusing.”

The Berrien Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Circle is a group of dynamic female leaders from all over Berrien County who pooled their resources and began identifying and tackling issues facing women and girls in Berrien County, according to organizers.

For more information about BCF, its staff said to call (269) 983-3304 or visit berriencommunity.org.