Church Women United Planning

A Celebration Of Human Rights

Church Women United of Newtown invites the public to its Human Rights Celebration Sunday, March 7, at 2 pm. The event will be in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street.

The focus will be on  “Living the Challenge — Differently Enabled, and Uniquely Called.” The Reverend Leo McIlrath will lead a three-person panel of those who have worked with or lived with those challenges. The audience will be encouraged to share experiences and ask questions.

The Human Rights Celebration is an annual event that unites women and men of all faiths in a common worship experience that highlights the health and economic justice disparities of individuals who are challenged with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.

Panel members are:

*Michelle Weinstein, who works at Ability Beyond Disability as a behavior analyst for group homes. The program is funded in part by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS).

Ms Weinstein has been with the agency for six years and has worked with varying types of disabilities ranging from developmental to acquired brain injury, and most recently, mental health. She has a bachelor’s degree from Western Connecticut State University in human services and a master’s degree in clinical human services from Post University.  She is a board certified human services practitioner (BC-HSP);

*Tiffany, an 18-year-old young lady, who is a client of Ms Weinstein. She is originally from Trinidad and is currently a senior in a local high school.

After various placements, including a children’s hospital, Tiffany is now living in an adult group home in Connecticut. Next month she will be celebrating a successful one-year anniversary in community living. Tiffany looks forward to graduating form this program and living  independently;

*Linda Jones, MS, RDCDN, a registered dietitian/nutritionist and mother of three, who will share her experience of dealing with a diagnosis of autism, the search for services, medical and nutritional finds, teaching a child with special needs into his teen years, and coping with the loss of this child from sudden death.

Panel moderator Rev McIlrath has been a Catholic priest for 44 years and is currently dean of the CORPUS Christi Community of Faith for Connecticut. He is also the ecumenical chaplain for the Lutheran Home of Southbury.

Rev McIlrath is also a speaker, writer, and licensed counselor. He is married to Dianne Wassmann-McIlrath and is father of six children and grandfather of six.

Church Women United (CWU) was founded in 1941 as an ecumenical movement involving Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christian women in the US and Puerto Rico. Organized into 1,200 local and state units, CWU works for peace and social justice from a Christian basis, while supporting dialogue with all faith groups.  It is a recognized United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

Human rights has always been an important cause of CWU.  In 1968 CWU passed the following resolution:  “We affirm that all persons as human beings have inherent worth and dignity and those basic rights should be equally available to every person regardless of race, religion,  ethnic background or sex.”

CWU’s  Quadrennial Priority for 2008-2012 is “Building A World Fit for All God’s Children” with four building blocks: Health, Economic Justice, Environmental Care, and Peace.  This celebrations will examine aspects of the first two building blocks.

Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Unit Celebrations Chairperson Linda Manganaro at 203-426-3496 or Unit President Darlene Jackson at 203-426-5192.