Women's Circle is a 501c(3) non-profit organization established in 2000 dedicated to helping lower income women achieve financial stability by providing assistance with education and job development. Funding for Women's Circle is provided by grants, financial donations and volunteer efforts, and is not supported by any government, church, or religious organization.

Coming soon — an update on...
The Women's Circle Annual Fundraiser
Circle of Hope... "Carnivale of Caring"

Date: Monday, February 20, 2012   Honorary Chairs:   Jerry and Janet Soderberg   Location:   The Hamlet Country Club, Delray Beach   Theme:   Mardi Gras   Music:   Will Bridges

History of Women's Circle

Sister Lorraine Ryan established Women's Circle in 2000 with Sister Joan Carusillo after a community assessment surveyed the greatest needs of women and families residing in the heart of Boynton Beach. Women surveyed wanted to learn English, receive computer training and find help with job placement. Since its inception, Women's Circle has developed a comprehensive, four-part program to address concerns among ethnically and culturally diverse lower-income women of Palm Beach County. The program empowers women to be "all they can be," while promoting an acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity.

Group encourages women in pursuit of personal goals

(Excerpted from an article by Linda Reeves in the Florida Catholic, March 18, 2005)
“Life is tough for women who cannot speak the language,” said Yvette Rene, who moved to America in 1965 from her homeland of Haiti. “Many people go through a culture shock when they first come to the United States. Life is so different in America.”

Ten years ago, Rene agreed to help Sister Lorraine Ryan, a Medical Mission sister and parishioner of St. Thomas More, explore the possibilities of an outreach group focused on helping poor women of all cultures, faiths and circumstances pursue educational, employment, spiritual and personal goals.

"We went into the neighborhoods and from house to house asking women to tell us their needs," said Rene.

Rene and Sister Ryan visited homes of the poor, Haitians, Spanish-speaking residents, African-Americans and Jamaicans in areas around South Palm Beach County.

"The needs are enormous," said Sister Ryan, who moved to Florida in 1999 from India where she was a medical missionary serving the poor.

Sister Ryan, a native of Brooklyn who graduated from St. Louis University, The Catholic University of America and John Hopkins University, left her mission work and relocated to Boynton Beach to take care of her ailing mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and her father, who was stricken with Parkinson’s disease. “When I came to Florida, I wanted to go back out into the community and help like I did in India,” said Sister Ryan.

The house-to-house survey revealed that women of all cultures want to overcome neighborhood problems associated with drugs and crime, improve family life and provide safe havens for children. Those surveyed also indicated that the majority want to learn English, receive computer training and find help with job placement.

After the data were gathered, women in the communities were invited to come together, sit around in a circle and discuss problems and needs with other women. From that gathering, the not-for-profit “Women’s Circle” was born.

“I am learning to read,” said Agnes Dugazoa, a new South Florida resident from Haiti as she wrote phrases on a wallboard hanging in front of a small language class. “I want to progress. I like the classes.”

Women’s Circle, based in a modest house in a low-income neighborhood in downtown Boynton Beach, is made possible through the efforts of Sister Ryan, volunteers, seminarians, part-time teachers and sister Joan Carusillo, a Holy Cross Sister.

“I work at Women’s Circle teaching English to beginners,” said Patrick Charles, a fourth-year seminarian at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. “The outreach is part of my formation. It is rewarding when you see people learning.”

“I teach them to write sentences and to say them in different ways to help them understand words,” said Pierre Valcena, a part-time teacher who conducts three language classes a week.

Women's Circle currently serves 500 from many areas of Palm Beach County and offers computer classes, support-group sessions, counseling, health education and seminars, drug addiction prevention, job development and placement and English language classes. The center points women in the right direction for assistance in other areas not offered at the center, and to houses of worship for spiritual guidance.