Helping Our Women (HOW) was formed in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1992 as a response to the lack of services available to women with chronic and life threatening illness. In 1993, HOW opened a resource and referral center, acquired non-profit 501(c)3 status, and incorporated. HOW's original focus was serving women with cancer, but in 1994, was expanded to include all women diagnosed with chronic and life threatening illness. HOW was an all volunteer organization until August, 1993, when HOW began to staff the office on a part-time basis. This position became full time (40 hours per week) in January, 1997. HOW now has a full-time Executive Director and a full-time Office Administrator. These two paid positions combined with a corps of committed volunteers work together to achieve the following goals:

• Provide direct services to women with chronic and life threatening and/or disabling illness that assist in creating a more manageable life style;
• Provide clients with referrals and advocacy that improves access to health care, social services, and benefit programs;
• Develop and implement programs that empower and educate women on issues related to health care and well-being and that are inclusive of diverse needs.

Staff Bio

Irene Rabinowitz has been the Executive Director of Helping Our Women since 1995. She is a native of Providence, Rhode Island who lived in New York City for sixteen years before moving to Provincetown in 1986. Prior to working at Helping Our Women, she was a Case Manager and Housing Program Director at the Provincetown AIDS Support Group (now known as the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod) from 1989 to 1995.

Teri Nezbeth has been the Office Administrator since April 2002. She is an Ohio native who has lived in Massachusetts for twelve years. Prior to moving to the Cape, Teri lived in the Washington, DC area for fifteen years, where she began her career in human services as a volunteer for AIDS service organizations in the early 80's. Teri also lived in Boston for a year and worked at City Year, an AmeriCorps program. She has also been active with human rights, housing, women's rights, and homeless organizations. She is currently attending college full-time to pursue a degree in Psychology.