The Displaced Homemakers Network of New Jersey honored Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle last week with their Outstanding Service to Women Award for her legislative efforts.
The recognition was handed out at a legislative reception at the Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday in honor of Displaced Homemakers Awareness Month.
“This is truly an honor coming from a group of such dedicated individuals. A great deal of what I fight for in Trenton centers around strengthening opportunities for women and families, especially the most vulnerable among us,” said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). “As I said before, when you empower a woman, you empower a family. When you empower a family, you empower a community. And when you empower a community, you may even change the world.”
The Displaced Homemakers Network of New Jersey, Inc. is a 501c3 partnership of service providers and concerned citizens who support and advocate on behalf of displaced homemakers -individuals who have worked in the home for a number of years and, due to divorce, separation, death or disability of a spouse or partner, now find themselves as the primary source of household income and, in many cases, underemployed and unable to support either themselves or their children.
Vainieri Huttle, who serves as a Deputy Assembly Speaker and chairs the Assembly Human Services Committee, has consistently been among the top legislators with the most bills signed into law over the past several years, many of which champion issues important to women and families.
Among her more recent legislative accomplishments are bills to combat the gender pay gap; to protect domestic violence victims from gun violence; to extend emergency rental assistance benefits to the disabled; to ensure equal access to state contracts for women- & minority-owned businesses; and to combat abuse against the elderly and disabled.