EMPOWERING WOMEN :
From Catherine to Crystal
By : Kirsten Swanson
It ’ s a rainy Monday morning at William D . Kelley Elementary School and the school ’ s principal , Crystal Edwards , EdD ’ 20 , is getting things done .
She is wiping tears from a student ’ s face , looking over another student ’ s file with a colleague , and no doubt thinking about what she has planned next for her nonprofit Empowering Single Mothers meeting - all while bouncing on an exercise ball in four-inch heels .
This is all in a day ’ s work for Dr . Edwards , and she wouldn ’ t have it any other way .
“ Let somebody else be first . I ’ m in the back , helping people . I don ’ t want any part of being first . Humanity is suffering because we just want to be first ,” Dr . Edwards said . “ We just want to knock somebody else to the side . What happens when it ’ s you and no one comes to help ?"
Dr . Edwards founded Empowering Single Moms , Inc . in 2015 as a direct response to the experiences she endured raising kids as a single mother . As an educator , Dr . Edwards ’ goal through the nonprofit is “ to educate , house and restore single mothers receiving federal assistance by conducting self-sufficiency training , conflict resolution , and educational programs .” She believes through financial , educational , and personal empowerment , the lives of single mothers can be transformed .
Finding her way to Mercy It ’ s no surprise that Dr . Edwards eventually found her way to Gwynedd Mercy University . After all , it was Catherine McAuley , founder of the Sisters of Mercy , who said “ No work of charity can be more productive of good to society than the careful instruction of women .” Like Dr . Edwards , Catherine made it her life ’ s mission to empower women .
Dr . Edwards ’ path to GMercyU was anything but straightforward , however .
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