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Good morning, Fearless readers:
Have you saved the date for our final virtual Fearless Focus event of 2024? From noon to 1 p.m. on Oct. 3, we will explore the role mentors play in empowering women in the workplace. Here is more information. I would love to see you online!
In this week’s Fearless e-newsletter, you will find:
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A story about the Le Mars birthing unit expanding, a rarity among rural hospitals.
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A column by attorney Eva Morales about the myth of the work-life balance.
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A short story about Deidre DeJear, who will serve as the next president and CEO of Oakridge Neighborhood.
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In the headlines: The Domestic Violence Intervention Program in Iowa City is opening a $7.2 million facility that will double the capacity of the shelter’s current 35 beds.
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In case you missed it: Columnist Dave Elbert explores the stories of the women buried at the Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines.
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Lots more!
– Nicole Grundmeier, Business Record staff writer
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Le Mars birthing unit expanding, a rarity among rural hospitals
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BY EMILY BARSKE WOOD, BUSINESS RECORD STAFF WRITER
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Rendering by CMBA Architects.
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At least 40 of Iowa’s birthing units have closed since the turn of the century. Rural communities have faced the brunt of the challenge: Thirty-one of Iowa’s 99 counties don’t have a labor and delivery unit, and the closures have led to a decline in Iowa women seeking prenatal care.
Among the decline in services around the state, there’s also the sound of growth: the clanging of construction equipment inside a critical access hospital in Le Mars.
Last year, Floyd Valley Healthcare leaders broke ground within its facility to expand its birthing unit. The OB department is still operating in the hospital and will move to the new area when construction is complete. Expansion plans had been in the works since before the COVID-19 pandemic when leaders began hosting focus groups with community members, said Chief Nursing Officer Tara Geddes.
The hospital had long been known for quality OB care, Geddes said, but the small and uncomfortable patient rooms don’t emulate that experience.
“The medical equipment has definitely surpassed what the space was able to offer,” Geddes said. “We wanted to make sure that our rooms match the care that patients are getting.”
There are currently three postpartum rooms and one birthing room. The updated space will include three rooms meant for labor, delivery and postpartum care so the new parents don’t have to move rooms throughout the various stages, in addition to one labor room and one triage room. The unit will have larger bathrooms, and the rooms will be double the square footage of current spaces. This will make it easier for families to have visitors during their experience, Geddes said, which is important because having your loved ones around you is helpful to the healing process.
The planners put thought into the aesthetics and how the design would make patients and their families feel. They will furnish the rooms with couches and beds to keep in mind significant others who sometimes stay multiple nights to support their partners and care for their new babies. The light fixtures will emit light throughout the room so patients don’t have a bright light overhead.
“It’s a more calming environment – lots of neutral colors, soft lighting,” Geddes said.
The hospital is also expanding its partnership with the Ronald McDonald House, a nonprofit focused on supporting families with sick children in their time of need. The organization will have a room within the new OB unit with snacks and drinks available for families.
The leaders see the investment as far more than revamping OB care. Geddes thinks about her own experience delivering five children as she’s made decisions on the project.
“I remember, to the second, the days my kids were born – I remember every detail, every smell that was in that room,” she said. “It’s one of those core memories that you just don’t lose. … When you deliver, that care is so critical at that moment, but also for your lifetime. We want to make sure that the care that families receive meets what their needs are, so that they feel comfortable and confident in us to trust us for not only the delivery of that baby, but the rest of the care for the life of that child and for the family unit.”
The unit is not equipped with a neonatal intensive care unit, so patients with high-risk pregnancies or deliveries are referred to a facility resourced for their needs. But as a critical access hospital, it can provide care for the vast majority of pregnancies, Geddes said. With a variety of medical services declining in rural areas across the country, Floyd Valley Healthcare leaders recognized the importance of quality local care where patients have their support systems nearby.
Pending construction wrapping up, the new unit is set to open on Nov. 1.
Geddes will be featured in the Oct. 25 Business Record that will feature Iowa women sharing about times they were fearless.
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Chasing unicorns: The myth of work-life balance
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Maybe you’ve heard of the phrase “chasing unicorns” before. It is defined as pursuing an unattainable object or impossible goal, especially when it diverts effort or resources away from an existing commitment or practical plan. Isn’t that what chasing after work-life balance feels like?
In the glossy pages of lifestyle magazines and the serene corners of Instagram, the concept of work-life balance is dangled in front of women and portrayed as a perfectly orchestrated dance where professional success and personal fulfillment equally coexist. We’re told that with the right strategies, tools and mindset, we can seamlessly juggle client meetings, courtroom appearances, school drop-offs, bath times and bedtimes.
It’s presented to us as a feasible and desirable goal that suggests there is an equilibrium where work responsibilities and family commitments intertwine harmoniously without one overshadowing the other. For decades, this concept of work-life balance has been the holy grail for working women seeking a fulfilling life.
I graduated from law school in 2014 – at the height of the #GirlBoss era and the rise of hustle culture. As a young attorney, I fully bought into this mentality, and my first office was replete with visuals reflecting this. The background image on my computer was of Christian Louboutin stilettos on top of a stack of legal books with the text “Like a Boss” in hot pink letters across the screen, and at the corner of my desk sat a coffee mug that read “Keep Not Settling.” Late nights and weekend work were just part of the grind, and I adopted an “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mindset.
When I became a mother, I quickly found it impossible to maintain that hustle and also balance the immense responsibilities and relentless demands of motherhood. The pressure to excel in my career, maintain a nurturing home environment, and fulfill the myriad roles of a parent was overwhelming. The expectation to “have it all” and equally devote myself to the two led to feelings of guilt and inadequacy when my reality fell short of the ideal I had been sold. I quickly became overwhelmed, burnt out, and disheartened that I couldn’t find this elusive work-life balance. What was wrong with me?
Then I heard the following quote, which dismantled my unrealistic expectations and completely changed my approach: A perfectly balanced scale is the one that reads zero.
The balance I had been chasing was an illusion — a mirage in the desert. Work and life cannot be evenly split sustainably, nor are they completely separate entities that need to be weighed against each other. Balance implies a static state, yet our lives are beautifully dynamic. A binary approach to work and life is not fluid. It does not account for life’s challenges and demands that require constant negotiation and reevaluation based on our priorities and circumstances.
It isn’t about balance and equal devotion. Instead, it’s about synergy or finding the right constellation of a work-life blend that will look different for each individual. Personally, I don’t want to think about my kids only after 5 p.m., and I want to be able to check the day care app for updates throughout the day without feeling guilty.
Some days, work will take precedence, while on other days, family needs will come first. This much more flexible and integrative approach emphasizes that perfect balance is neither possible, nor is it necessary for achieving success as a mother or in my career. Acceptance of that has allowed me to find much more fulfillment, and I recognize that success in one area can complement and enhance the other. Synergizing makes for a more peaceful and enjoyable life.
I am able to work on a weekend or attend an evening board meeting without feeling guilty. Similarly, I feel no shame in drawing a firm boundary and saying no to scheduling hearings on an afternoon that I’ve blocked off for something as trivial as Safety City graduation. I want to show my daughters that ambition and pursuing passions can coexist with being a loving parent.
The demands of both career and family are ever-changing — sometimes depending on the day, let alone in season — which is why the pursuit of synergy, integration, or blending of the two is a nonlinear journey. It requires adaptability, flexibility and a willingness to redefine traditional notions of success.
The myth of work-life balance may persist, but the conversation is evolving, and it begins with giving up the pursuit of the phantom equilibrium — the unicorn — that is “work-life balance” and trading it for the pursuit of your individualized blend or synergizing of the two.
Eva Morales is a first-generation Latina, attorney, wife and mother. She has served as a prosecutor for the Polk County Attorney’s Office since 2015, handling exclusively child welfare and juvenile law cases. Outside of work, Morales is a member of various associations, boards and committees surrounding her interests in mentorship, law, early childhood development and serving the Latino community. She is also a military wife and the mother of two little girls. She is actively involved with her family and devoted to leading by example for her daughters.
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Deidre DeJear to lead Oakridge Neighborhood
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Deidre DeJear will serve as the next president and CEO of Oakridge Neighborhood, the nonprofit housing and human services agency announced last week.
DeJear will start in October. She will assume the position previously held by Teree Caldwell-Johnson, who led the organization for 20 years until she died in March. Kristin Clayton has served as interim CEO and will remain with the organization as vice president of finance and administration.
Oakridge Neighborhood serves families and diverse communities with housing and other support services, aiming to create pathways to personal and economic empowerment. Oakridge is Iowa’s largest affordable housing community, according to a news release.
“This organization holds a special place in my heart, so it is both a privilege and a responsibility to build upon its strong foundation,” DeJear said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to working alongside the dedicated staff, board and community to continue making a meaningful difference in the lives of our residents and ensuring that Oakridge remains a beacon of hope and opportunity. As I step into leadership, I am inspired by Teree Caldwell-Johnson's enduring legacy and the profound mark her visionary leadership has left on Oakridge and the greater Des Moines community.”
A graduate of Drake University, DeJear is the owner of Caleo Enterprises, an agency working with clients on developing and implementing financial education and small-business development throughout Iowa. Previously, she was the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor in 2022. She started her professional career with Bankers Trust.
DeJear serves on the boards of the city of Des Moines Housing Services, the Directors Council, Wright Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation and as board chair of Healthy Birth Day. Other community involvement includes starting and continuing to support Back 2 School Iowa. The initiative, founded in 2005, provides school supplies to more than 1,500 children annually in addition to support services from various community organizations.
DeJear was recognized by the Business Record as an Emerging Woman of Influence in 2019 and a Forty Under 40 in 2018. Other recognitions include the Joanne Zimmerman Activist Award, the Young Women’s Resource Center’s Louise Noun Visionary Award and the Small Business Administration Minority Business Champion of the Year.
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“WE NEED WOMEN AT ALL LEVELS, INCLUDING THE TOP, TO CHANGE THE DYNAMIC, RESHAPE THE CONVERSATION, TO MAKE SURE WOMEN’S VOICES ARE HEARD AND HEEDED, NOT OVERLOOKED AND IGNORED.”
SHERYL SANDBERG
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Iowa City domestic violence support service to open $7.2 million housing facility: The Domestic Violence Intervention Program is opening a $7.2 million facility that will double the capacity of the shelter’s current 35 beds. Alta Medea, director of community engagement at DVIP, told Iowa Public Radio that eliminating economic pressure to stay in a dangerous situation is a paramount concern for victims and advocates alike. “So, 99% of victims report economic or financial abuse in addition to either the emotional or physical abuse that they experience,” Medea said. “And so, this project allows them to regain some of that independence, rebuild their abilities, to just have a safe future on their own.”
UNI swimming senior Olivia Chambers wins Paralympic gold in 400 freestyle for Team USA: UNI swimming rising senior Olivia Chambers earned a Paralympic gold medal for Team USA in the women’s 400 freestyle in Paris. Chambers, an Arkansas native, is competing in her first Paralympic Games and claimed her first medal on Aug. 31. She blew away the field, finishing with a time of 4:29.93 minutes, nearly two full seconds ahead of any of her competition, according to this story in the Des Moines Register.
UNI nursing program receives $275,000 grant for maternal health, critical care education: The University of Northern Iowa announced its new nursing program has received a $275,000 grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust to help train students to respond to emergency situations in obstetric and intensive care patients. The nursing department will purchase two manikins with the grant funding so students can learn to treat critical conditions in a simulated environment.
Beringer-Crock named 2024 Iowa Conservation Woman of the Year: Third-generation farmer Lillie Beringer-Crock of Cascade was named the 2024 Iowa Conservation Woman of the Year at the Conservation Districts of Iowa annual meeting Aug. 19 in Ames, according to a news release from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. A 2018 Iowa State University graduate, Beringer-Crock took over Beringer Family Farms about five years ago, according to this story from the Cascade Pioneer.
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Iowa: Where the first female lawyer in America was admitted to practice (Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts/Iowa Writers Collaborative) Teachers are burning out on the job (Wall Street Journal) Abortion has huge financial consequences in a woman’s life — and in the economy (NPR) New data shows women are more negatively stereotyped at work than men (Forbes) Young girls are using anti-aging products they see on social media. The harm is more than skin deep. (Associated Press) This boss vowed to help his workers with child care. It hasn’t been easy. (NPR)
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The Elbert Files: Woodland’s women
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Mary Jane Coggeshall may be the least appreciated formerly famous person interred in Des Moines’ Woodland Cemetery.
Woodland was one of Iowa’s first garden-style cemeteries, organized in 1848, two years after Iowa became a state and three years before Des Moines was a city. A new book, “Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines, A History,” tells stories about 121 of the roughly 50,000 buried there.
It says Coggeshall was known as “the mother of women suffrage in Iowa” and for her “brilliant repartee and sharp wit.”
A charter member of the Polk County Women’s Suffrage Movement in 1870, Coggeshall died in 1911, nine years before Iowa women officially got the vote. But she left fingerprints on many of that era’s progressive movements.
Today, thanks to retired Des Moines librarian Lorna Truck, we know about Coggeshall’s role in a long-buried bit of local history. In 1908, she literally fought city hall and won after she and other women were denied ballots for a bond issue on a new city hall.
The women cited an obscure and little-used section of Iowa law that gave certain women the right to vote in money-related elections, like that year’s referendum to issue $350,000 in bonds for a new city hall.
When the women were denied ballots, Coggeshall hired lawyers and sued. She lost in district court but appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, which voted unanimously in the women’s favor. The decision was a rebuke to city officials and required they restart the process for a new city hall.
The women’s goal was not to stop the project. It was to call attention to the unfairness of denying women the vote, which their lawsuit did. When the verdict was reported, newspapers from New York to California and from Florida to Oregon carried the story.
Many Iowa suffragettes and other notable women are buried in Woodland. They include:
Frances Hubbell, wife of pioneer businessman F.M. Hubbell. Frances received nationwide attention for the large suffrage conference she hosted in 1897 at the Hubbell home — now Terrace Hill, the Iowa governor’s mansion. Attendees included such well-known suffragettes Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt.
Delia Ann Webster, a friend of Frederick Douglass. Delia was the first woman jailed under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in Kentucky. Years later, she moved to Des Moines to be near relatives.
Cora Bussey Hillis, an educator, famous for saying more was known about raising animals than raising children. Cora “set the stage for childcare in the 21st century,” according to Truck. She also raised money for the first city plan.
Elizabeth Day Mann helped establish Des Moines’ first orphanage in 1886 after a 3-day-old infant was left on a doorstep.
Grace Cramer worked with homeless men, unwed mothers and prostitutes at Sunbeam Rescue Mission, which she co-founded with her husband.
Hattie Wilson was a newlywed at 28 and dead at 30, according to Truck. Wilson’s 1883 obituary said she kept “a vile house” and that her funeral was attended by “a dozen or more of the sinful sisterhood.” Wilson reportedly made her own funeral arrangements and paid for an expensive $85 coffin that was placed in an unmarked grave.
Alice Carey Wilson Weitz, wife of builder Frederick Weitz, was instrumental in adding an auditorium to Hoyt Sherman Place. She also lobbied for legislation that allowed the Des Moines Women’s Club to obtain a 99-year lease on the property.
Annice Baldwin Tracy was a Civil War nurse who organized Des Moines’ first “Cottage hospital” in 1875. The hospital received nationwide attention two years later when a Barnum Circus train derailed near Altoona, killing 20 and injuring 36. Survivors were taken to Cottage hospital, and circus owner P.T. Barnum was so grateful he raised $12,000 for the hospital.
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At its core, Fearless exists to help empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life. We believe that everyone has a story to share and that we cannot progress as a society unless we know about one another. We share stories through featuring women in our reporting, featuring guest contributions and speakers at our events.
We are always looking for new stories to share and people to feature. Get in touch with us!
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