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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 108-09
March 5, 2009

MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND COMMISSION ON WOMEN’S ISSUES ANNOUNCE LAUNCH OF THE NEW YORK CITY WOMEN’S RESOURCE NETWORK AS PART OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION

Online Women's Resource Network to Help Link Women and Families to a Variety of Government and Nonprofit Organizations in the City

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today celebrated Women’s History Month with the NYC Commission on Women’s Issues and announced the launch of the NYC Women’s Resource Network, a free, online, searchable database of over one thousand nonprofit organizations and government agencies that provide a variety of services to women and families in New York City. This year’s celebration was held at the New York Public Library. The Mayor also unveiled a new citywide campaign to promote awareness of the online tool and make it easily accessible to the public. In addition, employees of the Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library and Queens Borough Public Library systems have been trained on how to use the online network and will promote its use to patrons in need of information. Mayor Bloomberg was joined by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the Commission on Women's Issues Chair Anne Sutherland Fuchs and Executive Director Briana Collins.

“Our Administration is committed to finding innovative ways to support the women whose contributions in our homes, places of work, and communities help shape our City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “In uncertain economic times, we are taking steps to make sure that women and families across New York City have access to the services they need to succeed.”

The NYC Women’s Resource Network currently features over 1,000 organizations and agencies representing a broad range of services offered throughout the City including support on childcare, health, education, domestic violence, personal finance, housing, business, youth, and community service among others. Organizations can register themselves based on the services they provide and update their information on an ongoing basis. Users can search through the database to receive a customized list of organizations that provide the services that may best address their needs through a specially tailored keyword, category, and/or borough search.

“This is a truly innovative way women in New York City can come and search for organizations that are focused on women, by women, for women,” said Speaker Quinn. “From domestic violence to child prostitution to inequality in the workplace, the Council has succeeded in stressing the urgency of these problems as well as government’s responsibility to tackle them. This is a great way to celebrate and honor the exceptional women who live and work in the communities we represent by making the resources they offer available through just the click of a mouse. I thank the Mayor and the Commission on Women’s Issues for coming up with this invaluable resource.”

“Today, almost anything can be accomplished through the Internet,” said Commission on Women’s Issues Chair Sutherland Fuchs. “We can manage finances, buy clothes and food, and find old friends. Finding basic services and resources offered by New York City should be as easy. That’s why we have created NYC Women’s Resources Network so that women and families can find all the information needed to access our city’s many services."

Mayor Bloomberg also unveiled the new Citywide campaign to raise awareness for the NYC Women’s Resource Network developed in partnership with NYC & Company. Posters will be placed in phone kiosks and thousands of bookmarks and flyers promoting the NYC Women’s Resource Network are being distributed to the central and branch locations of the Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and Queens Borough Public Library. Over the course of the next year, the NYC Commission on Women’s Issues will continue to work with the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications in an effort to enhance and grow the capacity of the NYC Women’s Resource Network along with other citywide technologies, including 311 and HHS Connects.







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