Mothers & More again

It occurs to me that I should post a link for the local chapter of Mothers & More, in case anyone in Washtenaw County or the surrounding area is interested. A once a week toddler playgroup saved my sanity back in 1998 when I was home with my son and most of my friends were childless.

From the national organization's Advocacy and Action page:

Founded as both a support and advocacy organization, Mothers & More has been on the forefront of a "mothers' movement" since the '80s, advocating for business and government policies that recognize and support the critical social and economic work all mothers perform as primary caregivers.

Mothers & More has two primary goals for its advocacy programs:

* To raise consciousness, in mothers and others, about existing social, economic and cultural conditions that have an impact on mothers.
* To secure economic and social equality for all mothers.

Through our comprehensive programs and our nationwide network of members and chapters, we strive to raise awareness about the fact that society presents significant barriers to mothers' ability to succeed as women, citizens, parents or participants in the workforce. We also provide the means to empower mothers, providing the education, knowledge and tools they need to effect social change on behalf of themselves and all mothers. By working through both the public and private sectors, we aim to transform society in three areas:

* We seek broad acceptance that the work of caring for others is valuable and essential to our families, communities and society as a whole.

* We believe that all mothers, fathers and others who care for their families, whether or not they work for pay, merit access to basic public and private protections from economic risk.

* We need to reshape our workplaces so that mothers, fathers and others who need to care for their families have more and better options for combining achievement on the job with a successful home life.

Mothers & More represents mothers who are at home full-time, mothers who work for pay full-time, and everything in between. We understand that, due to choice or circumstance, not all mothers make identical decisions. Some leave paid employment entirely and spend a number of months or years at home full-time. Others pursue volunteer work or continue working for pay but opt for flexible work options including part-time, flex-time, flex-place, job sharing, and home-based businesses. For over fifteen years, Mothers & More has been uniting women from all walks of life, supporting them through the rewards and challenges of motherhood.

As a non-profit organization serving 7,500 mothers in the U.S. and beyond, Mothers & More is poised to play a leading role in creating a society whose practices and policies successfully balance the needs and interests of those who work for pay, those who care for their families, and those who do both.