Women Count! / Women in Dialogue

Welcome

We are diverse women from different races, ethnicities, identities, ages, nationalities and backgrounds bringing communities together by bringing women together to address our common concerns.  We tackle the poverty and food insecurity of women and children who are 73% of the poor. A non-profit organization since 1985, we are committed to addressing the importance and value of all women’s contributions to the economy and society including that of essential caregiving.  

For 22 years Women in Dialogue has run the Crossroads Women’s Center in a small storefront on Maplewood Mall in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia.  We purchased a much larger space on Wayne Avenue in lower Germantown that needs renovation so we can expand our work.  Now more than ever, a space is needed where those whose survival and rights are under threat can come together across divisions to protect one another and build the movement for a more caring world.

We want to thank the Philadelphia Commerce Department and PIDC for helping to fund the renovation of our new Center, as well as the professionals who have been so generous in donating their time, advice and expertise into developing our new space on Wayne Ave and making it into a welcoming, accessible, environmentally and community friendly space. But all the goodwill and volunteer effort will not pay for everything. We need your financial help in covering the remaining costs of a kitchen, garden and media center.We need your financial help for renovations estimated at over $300,000.  

Please visit buildingcrossroads.center for more info and updates.

 

Crossroads Women’s Center

We are a multiracial community-based center for collective self-help support and advocacy against poverty, sexism, racism, disability and other discriminations, and for financial recognition for unpaid caregiving, overwhelmingly the work of women – women and children are 70% of poor people in Philadelphia. 

Women and men who work out of the Center know from personal experience how tough it is to win recognition and resources for the work we do, especially if we are Black, Brown, LGBTQ … and to get what we need and are entitled to in order to tackle injustices in the benefits, legal, criminal and child welfare systems. We build on each other’s skills and experiences to improve our situations and make change.

Groups and Initiatives Based at the Center

• CAFES: Caregiving Advocacy for Food & Economic Security
• Care Income Now!
• Crossroads Women’s Wellness
• Every Mother is a Working Mother Network
• Global Women’s Strike and Women of Color/GWS
• Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives Fighting for Our Loved One’s Lives
• Payday Men’s Network
• Women’s Fitness Club

Issues We Address

• Access to Benefits (Welfare, SNAP, Healthcare, Other)
• Caregivers’ Supports
• Childcare
• Child Welfare
• Criminal Justice
• Discrimination
• Domestic Violence
• Elder Care
• Guardianship
• Health
• Healthy Food Access
• Housing
• Legal Help that is Accountable
• Pay Equity
• Poverty
• Tax Credits

How We Work Together

• Peer Support. Each person is centrally involved in her own case while working with others on the basis of collective self-help. People are empowered and we are more likely to gain our rights.
• Collaboration. We work with a range of community groups, refer to supportive organizations, and follow-up to ensure follow-through.
• Health and Wellness. We provide a healthy lunch for those using the Center, along with meditation classes and community garden plot. With our partners, we provide tax/legal benefits clinics.

We are based in Germantown. For 25 years we were at 33 Maplewood Mall. In 2022 we moved to 5011 Wayne Ave. All are welcome! Volunteers, rummage items and donates are greatly appreciated. Call us at 215-848-1120. Email us at philly@allwomencount.net

The Center is run by Women in Dialogue, a 501c3 non-profit founded in 1985 by a multiracial network of women to “bring communities together by bringing women together on our common concerns.”

We wish to thank the William Penn Foundation for its generous support of our healthy food initiative; the MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge Microgrant for its support of our “Mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, Fighting for our loved ones’ lives” project; Women’s Way for their general support; the Foundation for Healthy Equity for food insecurity of the elderly; the Philadelphia Activities Fund and City Councilwoman Cindy Bass for their support of the Women’s Fitness Club; and the Germantown Community Alliance for a planter.

Help us with our building campaign! https://wccww.wordpress.com/