UC Irvine Extension's Women's Opportunities Center Celebrates 35th Anniversary
Community Service Organization Commemorates Its History of Helping Orange County Men and Women with Life's Transitions Since 1970
IRVINE, Calif. – September 19, 2005 – UC Irvine Extension's Women's Opportunities Center (WOC), Orange County's longest-standing community service organization of its kind, is celebrating its 35th anniversary, and is reflecting upon how it has helped thousands of men and women through life's various transition periods since it began in 1970.
The WOC began when three women-Lou Anderson, Sylvia Lenhoff and Muriel Shishkoff-had a vision to create an outreach program to serve women with career, educational and personalized counseling. Their mission: "To make meaningful contribution to the community." At the time of its inception, the WOC was designed to provide services for displaced homemakers re-entering the workplace and women seeking career guidance; something no other college or university was offering at the time.
The WOC's first home was at the entrance of UC Irvine's Crawford Hall Gymnasium-consisting of a table, three chairs and a telephone. Today, it has evolved into a full-service community service organization at UC Irvine Extension that offers support to women and men regarding career transitions, volunteer opportunities, and most recently-opportunities for an active retirement lifestyle.
Serving OC Throughout The Decades-Divorce Boom to Technology Boom
Muriel M. Shishkoff, who was selected to serve as the WOC's founding director in 1970, recalls their vision for the center being an original concept at the time-to serve the needs of the local community's women. As the first director, Shishkoff began visiting other university women's centers, and discovered that no other institution was extending their outreach beyond the campus boundaries. Yet she saw the strong need for such services in the community and was inspired to strengthen the center's outreach.
"With the social changes facing Orange County in the 70s, including a number of husbands' unexpected layoffs and divorces, women were trying to figure out how to land their first job and had nowhere to turn for help with these life-altering transitions," said Shishkoff.
In the 1970s, the WOC emerged as the region's only program offering one-on-one counseling, and remains one of the few nonprofit organizations who offer that service today. The program was also the first in Orange County to bring the community's women together at a university for this type of guidance and help. Shishkoff found that some in need of their services were unable to pay the fees, and began offering scholarships to accommodate anyone in need. It began as a completely volunteer staff.
Going Beyond "Cookie-Cutter" Roles
Jeanne Golding, who began volunteering with the WOC in the late 1970s and early 1980s and is still a volunteer and instructor today, found the WOC to be an ideal place for her to donate her services. While she maintained the meticulous training process that had been established for volunteers at the center, she also reached out to young women in the community.
"I met with seventh grade girls and asked them to write down what they expected to do when they grew up," said Golding. "The girls wrote down 'housewife,' 'librarian' and 'secretary'-with no aspirations beyond that. I shared with them stories of the wonderful jobs other women were doing, and I truly wanted to show them that the world was open to women and that they could do anything."
Golding developed a course in 1977 that she still teaches today, "Job Seekers Workshop," which explores career development and job searching. She devised it for women who were becoming heads of families when they didn't expect such a role. Today the course attracts interest from women in their 20s through their 60s seeking guidance and support in this area.
Golding pointed out that the Women's Opportunities Center provides services to both men and women. "When I went through my first counseling session with a man, he shared many of the same problems, concerns and fears that the women were expressing," said Golding. "The Women's Opportunities Center has never been exclusive to women, and we would never turn anyone away that asked for help."
Evolving With Technology
As the 1980s went on, more men began coming to the WOC, which was serving over 125 people per month by this time period. In addition, a tremendous burst of technology inspired director Elaine Hart to begin offering computer skills training at the center.
"The Women's Opportunities Center has always changed to cater to those who come here," said Hart. "During the 80s, we found that there was also a need for more financial workshops. Some women couldn't even balance a checkbook. Others simply needed self-awareness workshops to help understand what their skills were and what they were capable of accomplishing."
Hart also observed the need for courses on divorce, and began offering programs to prepare for such a situation and obtain legal information. The WOC also offered management internship programs with local Orange County businesses, which were started in the 70s, but flourished in the 80s. By 1986, the center had 45 different programs offered, yet still did not have a building of its own.
Hart and her predecessors were forced to hold staff meetings in local churches, and use community facilities and libraries for client counseling and workshops. After moving to eight different locations, the WOC began actively searching for its own building in the mid-1980s, and in 1992 the center raised enough money to build The Rachel Long Morgan Women's Opportunities Center on the UC Irvine campus.
Life's Next Great Adventure-Retirement
Today, 35 years after the WOC began offering its services, The Rachel Long Morgan Women's Opportunities Center at UC Irvine Extension provides full-service resources for the community, including counseling rooms, a resource library, a computer lab and a full volunteer staff to support a variety of programs. In 2005, the center expanded its offerings to include programs and events for individuals anticipating retirement. In addition to expanding these retirement transition programs, WOC continues to offer career transition workshops and personalized one-on-one coaching to men and women throughout Orange County.
"The recent offering of retirement options has truly helped us reach out to the community in new ways and allows us to broaden the population of people that the Women's Opportunities Center has served," Diane Goepp, Director of Career/Life Planning Programs at UC Irvine Extension, said. "Our retirement services are really helping those people that are looking forward to an active retirement. Our resources present active ideas for people to pursue in this part of their lives. This new direction is consistent with the mission of the founders, 'To make meaningful contribution to the community.'"
WOC will be hosting a private 35th anniversary event on Thursday, October 20 from 6-9 p.m. at the UC Irvine University Club on campus. The program will consist of reminiscences of WOC by decade with speakers for the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000's. As the center celebrates its years of service, its dedicated staff and volunteers are also looking to the future of the organization. The continued financial support from local businesses will allow the organization to keep the doors open and serve the Orange County community.
UC Irvine Extension's Career and Life Planning Programs are designed by leaders at the Women's Opportunities Center, a career and life planning center dedicated to helping men and women in the community successfully navigate career and life transitions. For 35 years, the Women's Opportunities Center has provided a place to network, learn, and grow. The professional, supportive environment features specially-trained staff, as well as high-quality services and resources. Located in the Rachel Long Morgan Women's Opportunities Center building on the UC Irvine campus, the center is open to all men and women, with Career and Life Planning Programs to suit individual needs. To learn more about the Women's Opportunities Center and the Career / Life Planning Programs, call (949) 824-7128 or visit www.extension.uci.edu/careerlife.
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