Community Update ❤️ May 2022

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Community Update - May 2022

Greetings Friend,

As we continue to move forward on our mission to support women living with chronic or serious health conditions on the Outer Cape, we wanted to share some of the exciting news about a national award we received and the Betty Villari Community Service Award that our Board will present at our Annual Meeting on June 30th at the Provincetown Inn!

We also want to give you the opportunity to advocate for health and well-being on the Outer Cape by completing a survey about community needs. At HOW, we benefit from the information gathered by our local partners who conduct periodic health and needs assessments, so please take one of the two surveys currently underway -- the results will deepen HOW's understanding of current issues and inform our planning at the Board's fall retreat. Whether you're a visitor, a part-time resident, or a year-rounder, your input matters.

And it's May, so summer is almost here and we have information and my column in today's Provincetown Banner about ongoing wellness programming, as well as our summer fun-draising plans!

Click the images below for more information. -Gwynne

Our Health Partners Need Your Input

Community Needs Assessments are a key source of information that a small agency like HOW relies on to inform our grant-writing as well as our work with partners to plan programming that is responsive to current issues. The Outer Cape is a federally-designated Medically Underserved Area categorized as a Rural Area which means we have extraordinary and unique needs compared to the rest of the Cape, so these types of resources are especially important in making a case. Click the links below to add your input to one or both of these surveys:

Outer Cape Residents can take

Barnstable County's survey here

Any Cape resident (part-time or full-time) or visitor can take the Cape Cod Healthcare Survey until May 13 here

2022 Betty Villari Community Service Award

Ann Maguire, advocate and activist, will be honored by HOW's Board of Directors at our Annual Meeting on June 30 at 5:30pm at Provincetown Inn.

Please join us to recognize Ann's contributions to the Outer Cape community and her lifelong advocacy for women's health and community needs.

HOW Receives Certification in National Program

Thanks to our organization's continued growth and investment in our Volunteer program, HOW has successfully been certified as a Service Enterprise by Points of Light - the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service! A quote from the certifier:

"Executive Director Gwynne Guzzeau's comment that "Service Enterprise helped to give shape and hold shape to a volunteer program that had been working, to work even better" beautifully reflects the goals of this program, and it is clear in so many ways that Helping Our Women embodies the Service Enterprise standards of excellence."

Lisl Hacker (l) and Chris Woods (middle) from Massachusetts Service Alliance conducted a site visit to review HOW's SEI Certification teamwork led by Lisa Phillips, our Volunteer Coordinator (r).

Read the Full Press Release

“It’s hard to ask for the help, but HOW makes it easy.”

Janine, an artist from Provincetown, gets support from HOW to help her cope with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Read more about Janine and the ways HOW has helped her cope with her Parkinson's Disease.

“There’s a little bit of shame around this. It’s hard to ask for the help. HOW makes it easy. I walk in the door and feel welcome. I like that I go home with a bag of goodies. There’s something very nurturing about walking in the door at HOW.

...With PD it’s hard to get yourself motivated.... I was very touched and amazed at how helpful our meeting was... It moved me that my friends were so concerned. For my father, it’s about knowing I’m being taken care of or taking care of myself. He worries. It doesn’t matter that I’m 60 and he’s 88. [At our meeting] you were kind and genuinely caring like I was a member of a family, a larger family of Provincetown and Cape Cod.”

This spring, you can help women like Janine by making a donation

and doubling your impact thanks to a $15K matching gift challenge.

Read Janine's Story

Upcoming Wellness Programs

Want to know more about the wellness programming we're offering this spring? Read Gwynne's column in today's Provincetown Banner or click on the images below. Better yet, join us!

"Balancing Change & Managing Life Transitions" Workshop

May 12 & May 19

Community Drum Circle at

Preservation Hall in Wellfleet

Tuesday Afternoons in June

Community Partnership Highlight

Grief Groups with Sharing Kindness

HOW has been proud to collaborate with Sharing Kindness -- a grief support nonprofit here on Cape Cod -- in hosting two 5-week grief groups for the HOW community this year.

HOW recognizes the growing need for grief support, especially after weathering the worst of the pandemic. We will offer additional grief groups in the fall of 2022 -- times/locations tbd.

Visit the Sharing Kindness website for various grief resources, including a video with simple yoga stretches to help support processing a loss.