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League of Women Voters induct 3 into HOF
YOUNGSTOWN
Three women from the Youngstown area have been inducted into the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown’s Hall of Fame for their outstanding community leadership.
The inductees, Elder Rosetta Carter, executive director and lead organizer of Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods; Lola Armanda Simmons, executive director of Home for Good, a re-entry resource referral center; and Judith A. Stanger, a retired public school teacher who has been and is involved in many community groups, including National Alliance on Mental Illness, were recognized Tuesday during a ceremony at YWCA Youngstown.
The inductees were chosen for their leadership and impact in the community, said Deonna Lampley, LWVGY’S press officer. It was the third year for the event.
It is appropriate to recognize these “very influential women in the community” during March, which is National Women’s History Month, said Kristen Olmi of Struthers, LWVGY president and grants coordinator for the Mahoning County Sanitary District.
Carter, associate minister of Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, said she is “humbled and honored” to be named to the hall of fame.
“I love Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, and I love the people I work for,” she said.
“It’s the grass roots that needs the help. Giving to other people is what I’m excited about,” said Carter, who helps men and women to successfully re-enter the community after prison through a Dress to Succeed program and others.
Simmons, of Austintown, also works to help people navigate through the many barriers they face upon re-entering the community from prison as executive director of the Home for Good Re-Entry Resource Referral Center.
“It’s wonderful to see people move beyond prison. For me, you don’t look down on people, no matter what they have done. You only look down to help someone else up,” said Simmons.
Stanger, a retired public school teacher who has lived in Boardman since 1971, said she became a League member only a few years ago when she learned what the organization does.
“It has changed my life. Education has always been very important to me and it is one of the issues addressed by the League of Women Voters,” she said.
The League is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government.
“We never support or oppose any political party or candidate,” said Olmi.
But the organization does involve itself in issues such as voting rights, citizen education about the governmental process and advocacy for or against policies in the public interest at the local, state and national levels, said Olmi.
For information about the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown, visit www.lwvgy.com.