About Us

The Metamorphosis Women’s Empowerment Initiative’s holistic approach focuses on the four foundational stones of our Pyramid of Power: Food Security, Mental Health, Healthy Lifestyles, and Job Readiness.

In Pennsylvania, 1,353,730 people are facing hunger – and of them 383,520 are children. In Monroe County, before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1.53 million Pennsylvanians experienced chronic hunger every day, including 478,500 older Pennsylvanians and about 437,000 children. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of every five Pennsylvania workers has now filed for assistance, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor
(https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Food_Security).

As we venture on the completion of 2 years in the wake of the pandemic, the number of families in need continues to escalate. In an attempt to begin to ease some of the stresses of unforeseen circumstances creating worse conditions for already suffering communities, We have created the Everybody Eats Project which provides emergency food service to struggling households via delivery. Providing healthy meals helps to prevent health issues which reduce additional complications.

Health equity means that every person has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Health equity means reducing and ultimately eliminating disparities in health and its determinants that adversely affect excluded or marginalized groups. “Every person” includes those who have been most marginalized – people of color, those living in poverty or with a disability, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender, and Queer or questioning persons, and others who have historically been excluded from mainstream society.

In agreeance with some of the nation’s most prominent health specialists that this requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education, and housing, safe environments, and health care. This is why we have established healthy lifestyles as a foundational stone that is 1 too often ignored or forgotten.

The M. W. E. I. Healthy Lifestyles programs focus on assisting our service communities to achieve health equity promoting the healthiest lifestyle possible. Through strategic alliances with medical agencies, community organizations, independent health consultants, and fitness instructors, we offer a variety of services and referrals to address our communities’ most pertinent health concerns such as breast and cervical cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, malnutrition, homelessness, well-baby care, mental health, and personal safety.

Good mental health is essential for well-being but situations that create high levels of stress and anxiety can cause a disruption in a healthy mindset. Mental disorders can affect women and men differently. Some disorders are more common in women such as depression and anxiety. There are also certain types of disorders that are unique to women. Some women may experience symptoms of mental disorders at times of hormone change, such as perinatal depression, post- partum depression, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and perimenopause-related depression.

Women often experience high levels of stress and anxiety because they are more likely to be the primary caregiver for their children, older or disabled relatives and have to continuously multitask multiple responsibilities at times without respite. Social and economic factors such as the likelihood of women living in poverty or being homeless effect the mental health of women. Numerous studies have shown to conclude that a distressed mind can affect the body often leading to illness and disease.

It is M.W.E.I.’s goal to assist women through turbulent times by providing counseling and mental health services giving women an outlet to express their feelings, needs, and concerns while also obtaining additional needed services and resources. Reduction of negative, unproductive, defeating, or harmful thinking keeps them on a path to a healthy lifestyle, physical wellbeing, and self-sufficiency.

Although post-pandemic employment has begun to rise in Monroe County, PA, in the last year since the beginning, many of those returning back to work are doing so in positions not paying enough to sustain the complete functionality of their households. Their gross incomes are not enough to cover the needs of the home, to begin with, but after taxes, insurance, and mandatory deductions prior to their net payout, there’s even less to cover partial expenses. This puts them in the position to have to make difficult decisions on what expenses to pay including food.

Furthermore, it is reported that the rate of inflation is projected to be the highest in 31 years. Therein lies the creation of the A.L.I.C.E. (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population. The Metamorphosis Chrysalis Center was created to offer and assist those employed and unemployed find programs, services, and courses that will help them to enhance their skills, making them more marketable to employers paying higher wages and increasing their chances of obtaining positions with financial growth potential. Employment in these positions will potentially increase household wages, increase the capability to pay bills, and reduce food and shelter insecurities.

The Metamorphosis Women’s Empowerment Initiative does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or military status in any of its activities or operations.