VIP Café Show – Youngstown, Ohio – Local Guests with Amazing Impact to Our Community

E68 The VIP Café Show with Karnina Szymanski - The Invisible Woman Collective: Empowering Single Mothers

• Debbie Larson and Greg Smith • Season 4 • Episode 68

Share episode

Karnina Szymanski, founder of The Invisible Woman Collective, shares her mission to help single mothers in Youngstown secure reliable transportation, enabling them to pursue financial stability and better care for their families. Her organization partners with local businesses and community agencies to identify struggling single mothers who are working hard but face transportation barriers.

• Transportation challenges force some single mothers to wake up at 6am to make it to work by 9am
• The Invisible Woman Collective works with agencies like Beatitude House and Mercy Health to identify candidates
• Recipients must have a driver's license, live in Mahoning County, and be primary custodial parents
• Their first car recipient was struggling to afford balloons for her one-year-old son's birthday
• Karnina's  motivation stems from growing up in a family of strong single mothers in Youngstown
• The organization held a successful Harlem Renaissance-themed fundraiser with community support
• Donations are tax-deductible through their fiscal partner, Motherful, a 501(c)(3) organization
• Future goals include expanding services and education around financial literacy

Visit invisiblewomancollective.com or follow @theinvisiblewomancollective on Instagram to learn more and support their mission.


Speaker 1:

hey, hey, hey. It's a vip cafe show coming to you from the havana house in boardman, ohio, where they have amazing coffees, they have amazing wines and they have amazing cigars. Yes, and they have a barista on staff, so they will custom make a coffee for you if you want to indulge, like Debbie is right now my amazing co-host here.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, thank you, yes, and may I add that they roast their own beans. It is Youngstown Coffee Company beans that moved from the back here of the cigar shop to now they have a warehouse in Warren, so they are freshly roasted beans.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome. That's like freshly roasted beans Right.

Speaker 3:

All right.

Speaker 1:

How about we have a guest today? We got to get to, we do I? Know, she's full of information.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she is, she is, so why don't you go ahead? I'll get the All right Listen.

Speaker 1:

She is, she is, so why don't you go ahead?

Speaker 2:

I'll get the thing here. Listen, we all know.

Speaker 1:

Wrong one, let's do this one. How's this? There we go.

Speaker 2:

There we go, all right. So we all, every single one of us, every single one of you, I guarantee, knows a single mother in your life, and our guest today has made it her mission to help single mothers in a very relevant, hands-on way that a lot of people would shy away from, honestly. So I'm honored to introduce to you guys Carnina, and she is the founder of the Invisible Woman Collective, and it's all about helping single mothers get the hand up that they need to really step into what they're capable of and might want to do, but feel so unequipped to do so.

Speaker 3:

Welcome, carnina, thank you great to have you. Thank you for welcoming me here. It smells amazing in here are you a cigar smoker? I am, I indulge I didn't know that I would.

Speaker 1:

I might have to let you start. Okay, all right. Okay, I love it. Hey, we are flexible here.

Speaker 3:

We are flexible.

Speaker 2:

All right. So, carnina, tell us a little bit about, first of all we're going to get into, what actually tell us what you, the Invisible Women Collective, does, the mission and the purpose, and then I really want to touch on why you picked this particular group of people to make it your life mission to help.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's a great question.

Speaker 3:

So I founded Invisible Woman Collective earlier this year with this mission to help single moms in the Youngstown area secure, safe and reliable transportation.

Speaker 3:

Because, like you said earlier, we all know a single mother. We've all been impacted in some way or another with that knowledge of what a single mother has had to go through to reach her financial goals and just take care of her family and not live with the burden of stress of just how they're going to keep their life in order and maintain their job and their family's health when they can't even rely on how they're going to get from point A to point B. And so I started off just hearing from family, people I love and even people who were part of my staff. It was just this unbelievable burden where I would show up and I'd be at work at whatever nine o'clock in the morning. We're supposed to be there and I talked to a mom who was on staff that had to get up, get on the road at 6 am just to make 9 am a possibility because of the multiple stops she'd take on the bus and toting equipment like strollers and carts.

Speaker 3:

And dare she miss one piece of that route? Oh my, yeah. And then everything collapses. Absolutely miss one piece of that route and then everything collapses. And when I think about those, moms still had to show up and put in that same amount of effort, but on the beginning of their day and the end of their day there was an enormous amount of stress, and so you know what we really have taken on in that mission is to partner with local businesses, and there's some reasons why we're taking that approach.

Speaker 3:

We're partnering with a lot of community, with traffic burden and fines and funding insurance and education that will allow a mom to stay dependably on the road that's so beautiful.

Speaker 2:

So just a little bit closer to home, I have a sister who found herself as a single mother and she had been wanting to go to school, so becoming a mom and sticking with it. Now she's a therapist. She's working on her doctorate right now. But along that journey it took there was a couple that really found her in like a really needy time and this couple has just consistently over the years been like hey, what do you need? Helped them with, helped her with gas cards, helped them with gift cards for Christmas, with the for the kids, and just really better I mean, help them, helped her move.

Speaker 2:

So hands-on and going through that experience I am one where I'm like, hey, you got to take what you're given and work hard and hustle out of it. But to see what my sister has been able to do and how many times she had to turn and say, yes, I could use some help, and this couple just really practical ways to help people when they see that they need it, and I thought, man, that's so much better than these huge organizations that do these handouts or once a month giveaways is to really see. And then I recognize that in the vision of what you guys are doing. And so I have another question how do you pick the people? Because obviously the need is so great and it's easy to be overwhelmed by the need, so how do you plan on facilitating that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So since we're new and starting out, I thought the best path was to rely on agencies in Youngstown that have been working with the community and mothers and really know them well for a long time, and so we reached out to the Beatitude House Sojourner, mercy Health. They have a program to help mothers through maternity programs oh great, so they're hands-on working with moms on a regular basis. We were at Mercy Health. They have a program to help mothers through maternity programs oh great, so they're hands-on working with moms on a regular basis. So instead of putting out this broadcasting, this call of who could use a car, who could use help with transportation.

Speaker 3:

We reached out directly to the agencies and said who do you recognize as a woman who's they're making good decisions, they're working hard towards what they need to do to reach their financial goals, but there's this, this barrier that's just caused by not having a functioning vehicle. That's stopping them from getting to that next, that next piece. And they and we did provide some criteria which were really practical, things being that we're new, such as does the individual have a driver's license?

Speaker 3:

Does the individual live in Mahoning County. We started with very specific range. Does the individual, are they a mom? Are they the primary custodial parent, Any fines, and there were some other factors that we wanted to think about. You know just the story that was submitted to us on how could this vehicle unlock this opportunity for you and impact your ability to move yourself further towards your goals.

Speaker 2:

Tell us a little bit about the lady who went through SIPI at this time.

Speaker 3:

It's been one of the modes. I knew that we had a lot of challenges in Youngstown and could fill it. But talking to this woman who you may have heard from at the fundraiser here, Oliver, she's been very open with telling her story and brave about it. We selected her. She came to us through the Mercy Health. She was a referral. She has a one-year-old son. She has one child.

Speaker 3:

His birthday was Monday, so I called her on Friday to let her know, based on what she's trying to accomplish and holding out her job and taking care of her one-year-old and her aspiration to be a nail technician. She's trying to pass her final licensing test and she's doing all these things and she's working really hard but distressed for her and paying others for Uber because the bus route is limited sometimes with her job and picking up her son. So it she was sitting there when I called her and we're doing all these things behind the scenes she didn't even know about and selecting a kid and all these things, and in the moment I called her she was really stressed just to get her son balloons for his first birthday. And I'm calling her a couple days before to tell her that she had been selected from this candidate pool and it's just to think about.

Speaker 3:

For me I've had a partner and help and I know somehow. But just think about the fact that you're sitting there every night just thinking about how you're going to move your child around and get where you need to be the next day and trying to plan out every step and something just as you know balloons for your child's right first birthday like how you just get balloons and to call her and give her that news.

Speaker 3:

You could just feel the weight fall off of her yeah, I don't think it became real, not even when she got the keys free and clear to the car at the dealership and the dealer taught her how to work it. But even when we're at the fundraiser and she got up to give a presentation, to tell everybody her story. She was still like, wow, this is real. Right now I don't have to have those sleepless nights, at least for that transportation, one less. Boulder now on the way.

Speaker 1:

So I've got a question. So what happened in your life that got you to care about that? I'm thinking back, think back. What got you to think this is my calling Because you did other things. You're a very successful business person, very successful insurance salesperson, and you went wait a minute, this is not my calling. But who, what person, what event, what happened to you?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I come from in the Youngstown area, just generations of single mothers. My mother was a single mother. I remember my great-grandmother and just hearing stories about she did everything. She had the roughest hands and the most loving heart because she did everything to support her family. She did everything from work hard to running numbers, not always the most above board whatever it took to help our family and I remember thinking that they were so tough and so strong.

Speaker 3:

but I also remember like how they cried when they didn't know anyone was listening and how they were up late just worrying it through how to pay the bills and you know how to make a way, and I was the first in my my mom's kids to graduate from college and I took on this career and moved to california and I'm working 80 hours a week but it never left me that any opportunity I had, it was on almost the backs of these mothers and our parents. That really put in, made something out of nothing.

Speaker 1:

Your role, though, is to know that they're loved and somebody has their back.

Speaker 3:

That's right. That's so good that we're a village. Youngstown is a great community and you hear these things and I know our challenges, but when I think about how we show up, Come on, I've got to tell you.

Speaker 1:

Come on, it was 1990, and Diamond Steel, our business, burnt down to the ground. We had a gas leak. It exploded. Nobody was hurt.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

It really screwed us up, but a competition called us. What do you need to get back in business? Wow, man, we fight like cats and dogs, but we have each other's back in this town, especially if they know you've been here and you've contributed. That's right, yeah they kept us in business and incredible.

Speaker 3:

We're a loving, hard-working town and I just mean, there's some beautiful places you can go to in the world, in the country. But I think there's just something about that to just know that, like in in the worst case scenarios, we're just going to roll up our sleeves. Yeah, because there's always times when we hear about funding is going to get cut over. Here we rely on one thing or another going on outside of us to save us, but what always comes through is us.

Speaker 1:

I'm a believer and my father was the same way that people can do a better job if you're given the resources, than bureaucrats. I just hate bureaucrats making decisions on things they don't really care about, but they have to do it to look good. For somebody like you whose heart is it's a calling the joy in your face when you were talking about that car is amazing. Because you knew that person felt cared for and loved that they weren't alone.

Speaker 3:

That's right, and they're not alone.

Speaker 1:

No, you can't. You're not going to get that out of a government. I'm sorry, you just know, yeah, no, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And then I got to. So, carnina, we're going to talk about your fundraiser because I really want to set the stage for future fundraisers and how fun they are and how you're not only having.

Speaker 2:

Fundra, just drop the d, just drop the d. Yes, there we go. Okay, but I got to take pictures. I got to interact with the little boy that will be affected because of this car and he was a little cranky at one part, but just interacting with him and then seeing him smile and seeing him come alive, and getting pictures of oh, you're right, the bureaucrats don't get the hands on, you know, obviously, everybody doing their part is important, right, funding from the highest levels are important, but to be able to like to interact with the people that you're changing their life there, I remember walking places as a kid when my mom she was raising us, a single mother and we walked.

Speaker 2:

If we didn't have a car, we walked. We borrowed cars. We would have to get out and push the back of the pickup truck to get it into gear. My sister would be like she would be ready to pop into gear and the three of us would be like rocking it in the middle of Poland. It was so embarrassing, but this is all we do, right? So there's only one way up you got to go up right now from those stories.

Speaker 2:

But I remember that and so to be able to say, hey, we're changing these people's lives, to say somebody like you said having your back, to say, hey, you have this need, it's just beautiful.

Speaker 1:

So that leads us into the fundraising. How can people help? You have people's backs.

Speaker 3:

What do you do? I think people like and I'm guilty of it too we sit back and we go. Okay, these challenges are too big. There's a lot of many people need this, but I want to show that we can work together as a community and community partners. Helping even one mother makes a difference, potentially for generations of her family and who knows what that can become. And when I was talking to like local businesses, every little bit got us there from local companies donating raffle baskets, artwork that they own to facilitate us being able to sell them and get revenue. Greenwood Chevrolet in Austin town digging deep to make the car like a great car, more affordable and be creative. And how we can get there.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's cool.

Speaker 3:

We were just all. It was new to us. It was like, how can we get this car that's got a great warranty and certified? Like, how do we make it happen? Everyone just pitching in what their skill, their talents would allow and no one had to give a million dollars. It was just like some people were just leaning like spreading the word. I talked to you, debbie. You were like I'm going to post this and I got other people involved and it got this awareness.

Speaker 3:

It sort of started spreading and then I was beating on doors.

Speaker 2:

I love what you said that night too, because you said, guys, thank you for showing up, Because I didn't think anyone was going to know. So they did a Harlem Renaissance theme.

Speaker 2:

So girls dressed like the flapper girls and the guys there was like a bank robber, there was like the bankers with the. Everybody looked so sharp, right, and it was just a fun theme. They had great jazz band, great music. It was just a really cool. You did such a great job. They had an old car outside and then the cigar trailer outside too. You did such a great job. They had an old car outside and then the cigar trailer outside too, so people could go out there and sit in the cigar thing and just a beautiful event. So it made it not only fun but it was for a good cause and it was a nice full crowd, full crowd, yeah. So you guys, if you follow her, make sure you stay up to date on future fundraisers. How do we follow you? How do we do that?

Speaker 3:

So our website is invisiblewomancollectivecom. We're going to continue to share upcoming events. People will be kind enough to join our contact list to get newsletters, not only for events, but we really want to continue to spread education of how we got here and how we can make the city more walkable and pool resources and invest in financial literacy and things like that. So joining our contact list is amazing. Also, our Instagram is the invisible woman collective. You know, the more followers and support we have, I believe we'll get more community-based support and we want a really diverse support. We want everybody like yeah, because we all know single mothers. So there's no reason to limit and what we're trying to do for the community, to make the community stronger, make Youngstown stronger. So support is everything at this point and those are the best ways to follow us. Of course, we're're on all. We have social media links all over our website for you to to join in.

Speaker 2:

I have a random question. Is it okay that I ask one more question because greg's the time keeper oh, you're wearing yellow.

Speaker 1:

You're the bus.

Speaker 2:

I get it because I feel like greg has such great questions he asks these deep, thought-provoking questions and whenever he asks a question I'm like I need to let him ask more questions, and then I'm so curious that I can't help myself.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so another questionought to you by Go ahead.

Speaker 2:

Another question is what if a single mother she's doing good, and then she does start dating somebody, gets engaged and gets married or just starts dating somebody? How's that and I know you're still new, but just out of curiosity, like what's that look like? Because that's another struggle that a lot of single mothers have is the whole dating circuit and trying to figure out what. So when do they? Is it like a temporary support? Hey, here's a hand up and then we continue to move on, or how's that go?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, even though, because we are limited and we're just because we're going to start off. We've been so focused on single moms. But I even tell people this Families are starting off.

Speaker 2:

we've been so focused on single moms but I even tell people this families are important to us. I've never wanted to seem like we're not like extremely supportive of love.

Speaker 3:

We love love.

Speaker 3:

Families are great when they're whole and stable, but life happens in situations sometimes where that just doesn't happen that way for some people's lives and, as a result, they end up doing it all for their children alone, and those are the most vulnerable.

Speaker 3:

So at this point in time, that's where we're putting the majority of our resources and support. But as we expand and have additional events, we have had a lot of dad support. We think it's really important that men get involved big brothers, big sisters, clubs and things like that Because there's so much a broader impact of a home where the mother has to do everything or the single father because that happens as well has everything, and then you know the child. They need more resources in that village to love them and all those different kinds of things. So as we grow, there's so much more we want to bring into the community and help more and extend our support. I should mention that my fiscal partner is Motherful, which is a 501c3 out of Columbus, so I met them. They do a lot for family and moms in general it's not only for single mothers and they've been extending their support through me because they had not been in the Youngstown area and they don't focus on transportation.

Speaker 3:

So we're partnering up because they do a lot of great things that we want to extend to help moms period.

Speaker 1:

So if somebody gives a donation, it goes through. It routes through Weatherfall. Yeah, so it's tax deductible.

Speaker 3:

That's correct.

Speaker 1:

Yes, awesome.

Speaker 2:

That's great.

Speaker 1:

Awesome and somebody can give a if they have a car like somebody no longer can drive like an elderly person, absolutely, they can give a car and really help somebody in the next generation.

Speaker 3:

That's amazing. That's a good idea. Yeah, okay, great.

Speaker 1:

So I think it's time for I'm going to use this button right now.

Speaker 2:

Rapid fire Alright, so this is the unexpected portion of the show. Alright, beer or wine? Wine.

Speaker 3:

I've never met a beer that I like. You complain a lot.

Speaker 1:

All right. Coke or Pepsi, pepsi, all right.

Speaker 2:

What book are you currently reading, or a favorite book?

Speaker 3:

I, just because of Autumn Joy, who was one of the artists in our event, went to get the Spook who Sat by the Door, which I haven't cracked open yet, but I just I got it because she recommended it to me, which is like a 70-ish spy novel and I was like, why not?

Speaker 2:

Speaking of the art, at the show there was a guy from Ghana. He basically there's a guy in California that represents his art. There was a guy from Ghana. He basically there's a guy in California that represents his art. His art fascinated me. Very interesting, intriguing to look at. Very great artist you had there, thank you.

Speaker 2:

And speaking of a book, okay, I'm just going to shout out Greg's book. Greg wrote a book. Command the Room, okay, with his buddy, vince, right, vince something, vince Pivacqua, vince Pivacqua, yes, anyway. So in it, though it's really, I would recommend that one because in it there's a part that talks about finding your purpose and knowing your strengths and going in that direction.

Speaker 2:

So when I was just recently down with family, my niece and nephews were all down there, and so we made it a nightly thing where we would answer together some of the questions and we couldn't judge each other's answers. So I like set rules. But it was so fantastic that the kids would say hey, are we going to do the questions tonight, which surprised me because they're all young teenagers, like young teenagers to early adults. So that would surprise me that the youngest one would say are we going to do the questions tonight? Mom, we forgot to do the questions Like she would tell my sister or he would tell my sister. So yeah, so I recommend that book to anybody who's like trying to find their way or learn, like to own their voice. But that was unexpected, so part not part of rapid fire brought

Speaker 1:

to you by debbie. Okay, favorite french fry favorite french fry yeah truffle fries.

Speaker 3:

Oh, which place? Yeah, there's a place called pacific coast grill in del mar actually technically it's in cardiff.

Speaker 1:

It's technically in cardiff, great truffle, okay, oh it's on the beach, all right, okay, favorite restaurant in, and there's a lot of good ones, okay, so this is tough but favorite restaurant in youngstown In Youngstown or the surrounding area.

Speaker 3:

I really like Kravitz. I know that seems like I just love a good deli like simple, great deli sandwich.

Speaker 2:

Their lox on the bagel. I love their lox and bagels. I just think it's consistent always good. Okay, favorite ice cream.

Speaker 3:

Butter pecan.

Speaker 2:

Okay brand. I love Ben and Jerry's.

Speaker 3:

You're right, it is consistent.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 3:

Favorite ice cream Butter pecan.

Speaker 2:

Oh Okay, brand Brand, I love Ben and Jerry's, I love Jerry Garcia.

Speaker 1:

Jerry Garcia, you've got to support the progressive movement. You've got to support the progressive movement. How did you?

Speaker 2:

know, have you ever? Okay, I'm going to shout out Tillamook. I discovered Tillamook when I was in Florida.

Speaker 3:

I love their ice cream.

Speaker 2:

I know right, it's so good, so good.

Speaker 1:

Well, one more shout out for your website and how people can get involved?

Speaker 3:

Yes, and if you don't, big thanks to everybody who supported the fundraiser as well. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks to my chief of hospitality, veronica Srenovason. She was now like invaluable, and you can find more information. Follow us at our website, invisible woman collectivecom and on Instagram at the invisible woman collective.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. Thank you so much Thank you.