Women’s History Month: 4 stories

Women’s History Month serves as a reminder of the vital roles women have played in shaping history, culture, and society. This important observance highlights the achievements of women from diverse backgrounds and encourages future generations to continue advocating for equality and justice.

This month we are highlighting four women (one resident, one board member, and two team members) who help make White Horse Village great.

Joan Deming-Murphy, White Horse Village board chair

When Joan was growing up in Newtown Square, ideas about career paths for women were a lot more traditional. Many of her high-school friends became teachers, but Joan decided to go into nursing. She’s not sure what led her to pick that track, but it became the first step in a career journey that took her into surprising places. 

Joan’s first job was as a neonatal nurse at Johns Hopkins, but she continued her education, eventually earning a degree in pediatric nursing and then a business degree. She eventually took on leadership roles in healthcare consulting before founding her own consulting firm. 

Balancing family and career could be difficult at times. “The challenge is trying to be a mother and wife and having little kids and also doing something you really love,” Joan reflects. She remembers commuting up to New York twice a week for work when her two children were young, and helping her daughter with her spelling homework over the phone. But she was able to find ways to make it happen, including working from home at a time when not many people were doing it. 

She’s not quite sure how she juggled it all, aside from a lack of sleep, not looking too far ahead, and plugging away with excellence even when her gender counted against her. Joan was often one of the few women in the room, and men weren’t always eager to share the credit for success. Still, she remembers her career fondly, with the opportunity to enjoy many different experiences and travel all over the country. 

Now retired, Joan values the chance to stay engaged through her work on the White Horse Village board, where she’s served since 2022. “I love it because it keeps my business brain moving. I like problem solving and applying my healthcare knowledge.”

Ayisha Brown, move-in coordinator

When she was quite young, Ayisha learned the value of hard work. Her family owned a construction business, and if the kids wanted money, they knew what the response would be: “If you want money, you have to go to work.” 

Helping out with various tasks in home construction gave Ayisha a first taste of her later interests. In school, she was always interested in architecture and home styles, and has now moved into a career where she helps incoming residents choose the details to make their home just how they want it. Ayisha is also working on earning her real estate license. 

Between this satisfying job and her early days earning pocket change in the family business, it’s been a long and sometimes difficult road. As a young mother, Ayisha had to grow up fast. She worked in food service and housekeeping jobs, and faced times of adversity. She lost her job at Crozer Health when the hospital laid off many employees during the Great Recession. Another time, she had to go through a year of physical therapy after a drunk driver crashed into her car. 

Here at White Horse Village, Ayisha started in housekeeping roles before eventually being promoted to independent living cleaning coordinator. She’s felt very welcomed in her new role as move-in coordinator, where her ability to connect with people has been an advantage. 

Ayisha finds it rewarding to see the finished spaces that she’s had a hand in designing — and the joy of the new residents when they see the results. She still remembers a resident walking in and seeing the new home for the first time, and giving Ayisha a big hug. “She was smiling from ear to ear.” 

When asked what advice she’d offer to someone starting out, Ayisha says, “Keep going, and don’t give up, even when it gets rough. Just step back, take a deep breath, and keep going.”

Alicia Blessington, resident

A career in medical service gave Alicia Blessington opportunities she might never have had otherwise. It all started with a nursing degree. 

Alicia grew up in North Jersey near New York City. After her family moved to northwestern Pennsylvania, she finished up her bachelor’s in nursing in Villa Maria College, and her first job was at St. Vincent Hospital in Erie. Alicia then made a decision that would have a profound influence on her life: She joined the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, a non-combatant branch of the military composed of health professionals. She would go on to serve in leadership positions and retire after 26.5 years at the rank of captain. 

Her career led her around the country, with transfers every few years — to Staten Island, New Orleans (her favorite stop), Baltimore, and Tuba City, Arizona. In Arizona, Alicia served as the director of nursing at the Tuba City Hospital on the western side of the Navajo Indian reservation. Along the way, she picked up a master’s degree in nursing and nursing administration. 

The latter stage of Alicia’s career came at the regional office in Philadelphia, where she helped monitor health practices and grant usage at community health centers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. Alicia’s responsibilities included HIV, public housing, black lung disease, and health care for the homeless. 

She grows emotional talking about the extraordinary challenges and sadness of dealing with the HIV epidemic, a deadly and uncertain time. “While progress was being made, it was very slow,” she says. She would attend conferences featuring speakers with HIV/AIDs, and at the next event, those faces would be missing from the room. At the same time, it was heartening to see the way people pulled together, Alicia recalls. 

Despite the challenges at times, she recommends careers in the Public Health Service for young people, where they can serve while also getting help pursuing their education. 

“It was a great opportunity to see parts of the country that I probably never would have,” Alicia notes. She also learned how kind people can be. “There’s a lot of goodness out there that gets overshadowed, and there are a lot of good people.”  

Sakina “Kiwi” Stewart, CNA

Don’t make assumptions about a career in healthcare: That’s advice Sakina “Kiwi” Stewart can offer from experience. She had always thought it wouldn’t be a good fit for her, but eventually a good friend convinced her to give it a try. When she did, she discovered the rewards of a vocation as a CNA and the service to others that comes with the job.  

Raised in the Chester area, Sakina originally worked in food service at a local senior community before moving into her CNA career in 2002. 

“I think that’s my destiny, to just help people. Because I’m like that, even with my family,” Sakina says. “I take care of everybody.” One of the highlights is the support and appreciation she feels from the families of residents. “They adore me, and I love them. That is so rewarding,” she reflects. She also enjoys hearing residents’ stories. 

“I love it,” she says of her work, although it certainly has not always been easy. Her career has taught her the vital importance of teamwork, both on the job and off. “This cannot work without it.” 

She had always heard of White Horse Village as a great place to be, and finally managed to land a spot here five years ago. “It was so hard to get in here. You had to know somebody,” she says. 

In her downtime, she likes a quiet evening at home, or spending time at the beach, which she finds soothing and peaceful. She loves animals, and currently has a house full of them with four dogs and four cats (they were raised together, so they all get along.) She hasn’t always had quite so many pets, but “since I can remember, I had a dog, I had a hamster, I had birds, I had a rabbit, you name it.”