FAUSA Highlights Magazine Updated

FAUSA'S HISTORY
FAWCO Comes Home
Nancy Thornley
The idea of 'returning home' became a
FAWCO reality in the late 1970's when
Helen Cola of Rome, moving back to
Washington D.C., set up a card file of
local repatriates. This group became
known as FAWCO West. A formal
Returning Home Committee was created
in 1980. The Washington group sent back
how-to information on credit, license
plates, mortgages, schools, and whatever
else pertained to adjusting to life back in
the States. Guidelines For Returning to
the USA was published in 1983 in
response to a survey and included a
chapter on returning children. An on-going
ad placed in club bulletins asked:
"Returning to the USA? Don't let us lose
you". A map marked the locations of
FAWCO alumnae - New York, New
Jersey, Connecticut, Boston, Washington
D.C., Maryland, Texas and California.
In 1989 the FAWCO Board appointed
Linda Crowley, in Connecticut, as the
Alumnae Representative. Using a
computer, Linda expanded the
membership file and sent out a newsletter.
She was succeeded by Karen Burdsall. In
1995 Mona Garcia, returning to Texas
from Madrid, set up a more cohesive
alumnae group. Dues were collected and
a quarterly newsletter published; it was
sponsored by a relocation service. It was
Linda who, in 1997 in Dublin, promoted a
first-time-ever FAWCO Conference in the
States, in Washington D.C., to celebrate
America 2000. When this proposal, not
without controversy, was approved, an
alumae committee was appointed and,
with Mona Garcia as chair, set off to
organize the event.
Twenty-one women - Mona Garcia, Linda
Johnson, Linda Sampson, Jude Stalker,
Linda Crowley, Kay Miller, Dorothy
Childers, Elizabeth Bagney, Eileen
Ploumpis, Angela Eliopoulis, Dale
Koepenick, Jean Geese, Dona Belt,
Nancy Thornley, Helen McNulty, Eleanor
Fina, Lisa Chase, Donna Gray, Marilyn
Richey, Shirley Van Ooijen, and Brooke
Givot - met in Chicago on September 17-
20, 1998. The first item of business was
the deposit to the Hotel Washington -
FAWCO had not provided any seed
money. Twenty one personal credit cards,
each charged $500, solved this immediate
problem. The group met again in Santa Fe
in January 1999, and in Washington, D.C.
the following April and October; the
Conference on March 16-20, 2000 was
one of the largest and best attended in
FAWCO history. The Conference
Cookbook, edited by Nancy Thornley, was
created and sold for the occasion.
FAWCO Alumnae USA (FAUSA) was
incorporated in the State of Texas on May
1, 2000. Six alumnae - Mona Garcia, Jude
Stalker, Kay Miller, Nancy Thornley, Linda
Sampson and Pat Coker - meeting at Pat's
home in Dunwoody, Georgia, on June 9-
14, 2000, and began the process of
defining FAUSA. They met again in
October 12-15 at Linda Sampson's home
in Dallas; Jane Indreland joined the group.
Beginning with it's purpose, the details of
the organization were worked through -
officers, membership, elections, dues,
meetings, etc. Nancy Thornley wrote up
The Constitution, Bylaws and
Administrative Guidelines. "The purpose
of the Association shall be to facilitate the
repatriation experience of its members
and to help them maintain their
international ties in order to bring about a
better understanding between the United
States and other nations." The IRS
designated FAUSA as a 501(c)(4) when it
received its tax exemption on December
10, 2001. In 2016 FAUSA reapplied to the
IRS for a 501(c)(3) status by making a
bylaw change with a new purpose that
included a charitable dimension: "The
Corporation shall support the repatriation
experience by maintaining an
international network and committing its
resources to the health, education,
environment and human rights of women
and children worldwide." FAWCO had
also changed its philanthropic direction by
targeting programs to the United Nations
goals for women and girls. The new tax
status was granted in April, 2018. The
Bylaws Committee was Karen Sndeker,
Chair; Jane Indreland, Nancy Thornley,
Dale Koepenick and Rick Chizmadia.
The new FAUSA group considered itself
quite autonomous, not just an appendage
of FAWCO. It has it's own name, it's own
constitution, its own bank account, its own
Board of Directors. It even had its own
charities; as FAWCO was supportung
projects in Africa, FAUSA sought out
those in need south of the border.
For FAWCO, what had been an
alumnae committee was now designated
as an affiliate Club category had been set
up as a two-year trial membership for
American clubs overseas. in 2003
FAWCO amended its bylaws. FAUSA
became its own entity, an equal partner of
FAWCO and The FAWCO Foundation.
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