WOMENSPACE, founded in 1975, was a nonprofit coalition which addressed "issues affecting women and families." Penny Steenblock, Del Jones, Roberta Steinbacher, and Rev. Joan Campbell created WomenSpace to coordinate and unite area women's groups. The group promoted increased opportunities for women, researched and educated, and acted as a clearinghouse and resource center. First located in the YWCA, WomenSpace sponsored a telephone hotline for battered women and helped Women Together (later the CENTER FOR PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE) open a shelter. In the late 1970s the organization undertook the Women's Equity Planning Project, in cooperation with the FEDERATION FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING, which highlighted inequities toward women in education, employment, and human services. The WomenSpace Helpline, a continuing effort since the group's creation, offered telephone assistance and referral to area services for women and their families. In 1988 the total number of calls answered topped 100,000. Women & Alcohol, a joint project with the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, educated about alcoholism and helped ensure that quality services were available to help women alcoholics. Other projects have included the annual Women at Work Expo, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention, Women in Skilled Employment, Women's Action Agenda, and Women in Appointed Office. In Jan. 1987, working with the INTERCHURCH COUNCIL OF GREATER CLEVELAND and UNITED WAY SERVICES, WomenSpace opened a shelter for 35 homeless women and their children, later named the Zelma George Shelter for Women and Children and operated by the Interchurch Council. WomenSpace began a roundtable discussion series in 1988, and in the 1990s began publishing a quarterly research brief, In Focus, along with its bimonthly newsletter, Dialogue. After several moves, in 1993 WomenSpace was located at 1101 Euclid Ave. On 26 April 1995 WomenSpace was forced to close its doors due to lack of funding and loss of membership.
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