Women’s Equality Day takes place every year on August 26th to commemorate the passage of the 19th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which gave women voting rights in 1920. This amendment was a culmination of a peaceful women’s rights movement that dated back to 1848, when the world’s first women’s rights convention occurred in Seneca Falls, New York. In 1971, representative Bella Abzug introduced a bill that declared August 26th Women’s Equality Day; the bill was subsequently passed. An excerpt from the bill reads, “Women’s Equality Day is a symbol of women’s continued fight for equal rights and that the United States commends and supports them.” Each President has issued a proclamation every year since the passage of the bill in honor of this national partaking.

Celebrations usually take place in the form of public gatherings, where toasts and motivating success stories are shared. For example, a small city in Massachusetts is inviting people to come to the town hall for drinks and celebration. Many museums hold public lectures and exhibits regarding the history of the women’s suffrage movement. Some politicians take advantage of the day by publicly speaking about continuing to increase women’s presence in the world. For example, a director from Rutgers University has spoken about continuing to increase the number of women in legislative bodies like Congress and the Senate. In general, people take a moment out of their day to appreciate what lengths women have gone to earn the rights they have today. Women’s Equality Day is a celebration of these successes and of the history of how they came about.

Opportunities for women to take advantage of their equality are everywhere, especially in the thriving transcription industry. In fact, the transcription field is extremely popular with women, especially stay-at-home mothers. transcription jobs enables stay-at-home moms to work and earn a living while still leaving ample time for their families. The transcription industry presents innumerable opportunities for women today, and has become so popular because of the amazing benefits transcribing provides. We are one of the transcription company working in this direction for women. This source of empowerment exists only because women have fought valiantly for their rights in the last 150 years, and Women’s Equality Day is a celebration of progress and equal rights.

Have you ever been homeless? Well, to say the least, it's not a very nice place to find yourself. Let me tell you about my experience. I was about 11 years old at the time. My mother was a hard working woman and I had three other siblings living at home with me and our mom. Two sisters and one brother, we all basically had to watch out for each other when our mom was at work. It wasn't so bad because we were mostly very responsible children; whatever chores our mom told us to do, we did it. Well, for the most part. Anyways, my brother was very smart and always found ways to make a quick dollar. He was a shoeshine boy, bagger at the local supermarket, everything basically - you name it, he probably tried it. His only problem was that he was also mischievous, and once him and some other boys were caught in our basement sniffing glue.

First, there was one family that got evicted for not paying their rent. The management office set all of their furniture on the street to make an example of them. Not only was it disgusting because the furniture absolutely wreaked, but the furniture was also in terrible condition so they were extremely embarrassed because everybody knew their situation. Growing up with these types of experiences made me determined to never let myself fall down in life.

Then, life threw another curveball as my brother was accused of robbing the local laundry mat. I still don't know if he did it, but I do know that Mr. Heard, our landlord, kept his word. Things were rough already - our mom was the only one really making any money because we were all still in school. My oldest sister was 19 and had just had a baby girl, so money was really tight. My mom remained a rock throughout all the hardships we faced, never backing down nor succumbing to fear (or at least never showing us). She started looking for an apartment right away so that we could all stay together and stay on our feet. Then, by the grace of God, one of our amazing neighbors took us in.

She had one daughter of her own, but that didn't matter. She told my mother we could all stay with her until we found a place to stay. We were probably there with her for about three months; my mom was able to continue working and tried to find time look for an apartment. Eventually she found a nice two bedroom apartment in the Bronx, across town from where we were at the time. We were all so happy and thankful how things managed to work out (not going to lie, I was definitely a little shocked it all did).

My mother never forgot the kindness that our neighbor showed us and we kept in contact with her. In fact, because we all became so close, my mom became her daughter's honorary Godmother. Ms. Jacobs came to visit with us quite often and she would let her daughter spend time with my mother. We somehow lost contact with them, but we will never forget them. It was because of her my family didn't have to truly experience homelessness, and I feel forever indebted to them for their unwavering support and hospitality.

You have hundreds of people cluttered in one big room, sleeping on cots. She told me that they steal from each other, because all you are provided with is a locker and thieves can break into anything. Not only that - there are all types of germs floating around, and some unfortunately have different diseases that are contagious. She shared that it was a difficult time in her life and she regrets making the mistakes that caused her to have to live like this. She worked with me, so I saw her every day and felt bad for her and her daughters’ condition.

After about a year and a half, she was fortunate enough to be placed in a two story apartment. I am happy to say that for the past 10 years she has been able to maintain her own apartment and her children have been able to live more stable lives.

Let’s all think about this. Our lives are important but short; we have to make wise decisions to protect ourselves from these types of disasters. Sometimes circumstances arise that we really have no control over, but for what we do have control over we need to be smart and stay focused so we don't have to experience homelessness. Life is too precious to have to go through such struggles. Remember, we only have one life to live, so let’s make the best of it.