The mothers, the millennials, and the mavens. Changing our communities.
This is our seventh annual unveiling of 50 amazing women who are raising the bar in their communities, serving as beacons of light in their industries, and forcing change for the greater good. Meet this West Virginia Wonder Woman, Judy Raveaux, and many more that are creating a better West Virginia with their can-do attitudes and Mountain State spirit.
Community Growth
Judy Raveaux is the CEO of CHANGE, Inc., in Weirton, a community action agency and community health center serving the Northern Panhandle. She’s seen her community rebuilt from the ground up. After National Steel announced the closing of its Weirton plant, 10,000 jobs just disappeared, including Raveaux’s husband Brad’s.
“Living through those times, we found the need to start a domestic violence program and shelter,” Raveaux says. “We created a transportation program to help people get to work. The need for food and home repairs lead to our housing programs. We opened a free clinic for the community which quickly transitioned to a Federally Qualified Health Center. We have grown and assisted 25,626 customers last year.”
The organization is her heart and soul, and she credits everything to her family for all the support throughout the years, along with the excellent teamwork involving the board and staff of CHANGE, Inc. “We’re grassroots. We conduct needs assessments based on our communities served, identify those needs, then look to find ways to fund those needs. We involve the community, as we value their input. Our area has had its fair share of good and bad times, but I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”
Click here to read about our other 2020 West Virginia Wonder Women
Click here for tickets to the 2020 West Virginia Wonder Women TALKS event
Leave a Reply