International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It is also a time, according to the United Nations, to remember to “invest in women and accelerate progress.” Ensuring women’s and girls’ rights across all aspects of life is the only way to secure prosperous and just economies and a healthy planet for future generations, the article notes.
Marked annually on March 8th, IWD is one of the most important days of the year to:
– Celebrate women’s achievements
– Educate and raise awareness for women’s equality
– Call for positive change advancing women
– Lobby for accelerated gender parity
– Fundraise for female-focused charities
The Brookhouse Home has remained ever grateful for the vision of our philanthropic citizens of Salem who donated the home for women in the 1860s. Each day we celebrate women’s achievements. We have reviewed some ways we can celebrate International Women’s Day with a variety of fun activities that celebrate, remember, and assist women.
Celebrating Women
As an activity, it is suggested in a recent article that women can celebrate the day, if they are living in an assisted care facility, by having a tea party. The Brookhouse Home has recently had a tea party service in the afternoon and have put it on our calendar again because it was so successful. We make it even more special by using our beautiful collection of vintage tea pots and cups. This month we will have tea as well as guest speaker to speak on a topic that is of interest to and beneficial for our residents.
We see it as a fun and beneficial afternoon activity, working with dining services to serve special tea cookies for the women to enjoy with their tea. Before the party, we encourage residents to dress up for this event and it is always an uplifting afternoon.
Remembering Women
In addition, the article suggests that the day provide interesting activities that allow your residents to remember the great women in their lives and their past accomplishments. The Brookhouse Home has many residents who have enriched the work as nurses, teachers, factory workers, artists, television producers and entrepreneurs. We are a diverse and interesting community. As a suggestion, on International Women’s Day it would be even more important to write down in a journal or talk about the women who were influential in our lives.
Assisting Women
We are fortunate in that we can also include activities that allow your residents to help other women. Not only do we knit hats for newly arrived families to the region, but we also spend time helping our community at large in certain activities through church or other senior programs because we are still able to maintain our independence, privacy and autonomy. We also have a resident council where we talk about meaningful activities we would like to participate in, including traveling to Boston to visit The Embrace, the Martin Luther King statue and other cultural and historic events.
