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The Commission on the Status of Women honored seven individuals Wednesday night as “Outstanding Berkeley Women.” 

The honorees, chosen from nominations from the community, have made exceptional contributions to the community in any of a number of fields, including politics, science, education, labor, peace, the arts, volunteer services, and the environment. 

The women honored during the 12th annual awards ceremony were: Nancy Carleton, neighborhood activist; Barbara Hammer, homeless advocate; Nancy Hormachea, advocate against domestic violence; Jeanie Rucker, civil rights and education advocate; Carol Schemmerling, urban environment activist; Enid Schreibman, community safety advocate; and Ursual Sherman, human rights activist. 

“The commission really intends to honor people who ordinarily would not be recognized,” said Ruby Primus, a management analyst for the Department of Health and Human Services, who doubles as the commission staff. Primus compiled brief biographies of the award recipients. 

Carleton works for the environmental issues, gender equality and neighborhood organization and improvement. 

She is a founding member and past president of Berkeley Partners for Parks. She also was a vice-chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Additionally, she is a past member of the Board of Directors of the East Bay Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club and has worked on the language for the city’s Domestic Partners Ordinance. 

Hammer is chair of the Mayor’s Independent Task Force on Homelessness and serves on the board of the Homeless Action Center in Berkeley, as well as in other volunteer positions. 

Primus said Hammer “has managed to do all of this work while being homeless and suffering from multiple disabilities.” 

Hormachea is an immigration attorney, and half of her clientele are people seeking political asylum in the United States. On a pro bono basis she helps women who are victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. 

“I work closely with Narika,” she said, referring to the organization that primarily assists Asian women who are immigrants and victims of domestic violence. 

Mainstream women’s organizations aren’t usually prepared to deal with the unique cultural, language and religious orientations of these women, she said. 

Rucker, a lifelong Berkeley resident, has played a significant role in initiating changes in politics and education in the Berkeley area. 

In her work for school PTAs and as president of the Berkeley school board, she said she tracked students in honors and gifted programs. 

“It was as I suspected,” Rucker said. “Minority children were in the program for the disadvantaged and underrepresented in the gifted program. There was a tremendous gap between kids of color and the white and Asian students.” 

She also was regional director of the NAACP and campaign coordinator for former Congressman Ronald Dellums. 

Schemmerling is a longtime member and chairman of the Park and Recreation Commission. She is Bay Area coordinator for the Urban Creeks Council. 

In another venue she volunteers at the Suicide Prevention Clinic and for the Berkeley Resolution Services. 

Schreibman has been a community organizer active in the Elmwood for 30 years. She also was a founder of the Bay Area Women Against Rape in 1972, and she helped organize block captains in her neighborhood for public safety. 

She was a citizen diplomat in the Cold War, leading trips to the former Soviet Union and hosting visitors from that country. She was instrumental in forming sister city relationships between two cities in Russia and Berkeley. 

Sherman, a refugee from Nazi Germany, was one of the organizers of the Hillel Streetwork project, which became Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency. 

She also was a founder of the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, and she is chair of the Jewish Music Festival, now in its l5th year. The festival devotes a week in March to presenting Jewish music that is ethnic, classical, liturgical and multicultural.