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Business teacher Mimi Geswein is on a mission to help low-income female caregivers. It’s a mission inspired by her own experience as a caregiver to her parents at the end of their lives and then as the recipient of care when she was struck by a near-fatal illness during the spring of 2023.
“I feel like God spared me from that illness for this purpose,” she said. “It slapped me in the face – I should have died and I didn’t and there’s a reason for that.”
She saw the toll her illness took on her family and that now inspires her to help women in a caregiver role.
“I saw the pain and stress my husband and children experienced while worrying about my health and caring for me and it broke my heart,” she said. “When I got better I felt I had to do more.”
Mrs. Geswein had already been serving on the board of Women Affirming Women and after her illness she agreed to step into the role of Executive Director. She has transformed the organization from providing a single respite retreat weekend for caregivers to providing monthly programming designed to improve holistic wellness in mind, body, and spirit.
“Caregivers are often invisible and they have a way of falling through the cracks, given the focus on the caregivee,” she said. “What we’ve learned is that many caregivers suffer from physical, emotional, and social setbacks as a result of their caregiver roles. Our family had the financial advantages to get through my situation but these women, in addition to having outside stressors, they’re the sole financial support for their families in most cases. They also experience a high incidence of loneliness and isolation. We’ve seen how they flourish, both as women and caregivers, when they’re brought together in community at our Women Affirming Women events. We want them to recognize their human dignity, to fully realize themselves not just as caregivers but as women.”
As the result of her own illness, Mrs. Geswein, whose three children graduated from BWHS, said she has an even greater awareness of the needs of her students.
“I became a much more compassionate and understanding person with my students because I realized there are circumstances we don’t always know are going on with them and circumstances their families may be dealing with that may impact how they’re feeling in the classroom.”
She said some students are juggling some pretty big responsibilities at home.
“We’re more than just here to teach them. We’re here to care for them and nurture them. Our taglines for Women Affirming Women are ‘Caring for the Caregivers’ and 'Nurturing the Nurturers' but I also feel like as teachers here at Bishop Watterson we are the nurturers and caregivers for our students,” she said. “We owe them a larger duty than just to teach them information. We owe them that compassion and the same concern a caregiver would have for them.”
To learn more about Women Affirming Women, click here:
www.womenaffirmingwomen.org
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