Michele Rogers wanted to be an actor. Thank goodness her friend’s mother suggested nursing. Michele thrived in nursing school; felt it helped form and reinforce her values in life. She also met her husband at a school sponsored dance-the start of the Rogers Clan. 

Womankind evolved while Michele was working with a pregnancy counseling service. She felt she needed to do more than “just tell” women to have their baby, when they lacked insurance, medical care and social supports. Being a nurse and mother herself, Michele felt there had to be a better way to support these women.

Michele, her family, and a small team of supporters worked hard to give pregnant mothers what they most needed-prenatal medical care. Womankind’s moms also need other social support; Michele wanted as many services as possible under one roof to increase the odds of delivering a healthy full-term baby. 

Support services include assisting with applications for insurance, WIC, SNAP and other resources needed-food, housing, employment. Since Michele’s inception of Womankind, we have worked hard to meet the needs of our clients, all in a caring, nonjudgmental environment. Volunteers even welcomed pregnant women into their homes in the early days! 

Michele partnered with hospitals and physicians to ensure the women receive top-notch, quality care. She navigated securing multiple locations for Womankind to do its’ work serving woman in need. 

Michele “looked at problems as opportunities and challenges to do something better or create something new.”  At times, wondered if we would be able to keep the doors open, but someone always comes through! We are blessed with caring supporters-some for decades. 

Today’s Womankind is working hard to grow Michele’s vision. The needs might look a bit different from the seventies; some are greater nowadays. We want to help as many women, babies, and families as we can. We need to positively impact the infant mortality rate of Northeast Ohio which is one of the highest in the nation!  

We are stronger with new partnerships and collaborations throughout Cleveland. Womankind’s goals: to offer more services under our roof, expand our service reach, and help so many in our region, the need for our existence diminishes- one healthy baby at a time.  

Michele was a humble servant to her faith, family, friends, and thousands of pregnant moms. She once shared, “It wasn’t anything special except we saw this need, and we thought we’d better do it. This is Womankind.”  We respectfully disagree-Womankind is truly special.

We admire her dedication, as well as her family’s understanding- she was called to help many. It is not easy to share your wife and mom with the entire region.  

We pledge to continue the work she started and make her proud. 

“If I can’t be at Womankind bodily, I’ll be spiritually supporting them always. It’s a way of life.” – Michele Rogers