COUNTYWIDE : 2 Women Honored by State Legislature

A Thousand Oaks woman who helped design a support program for military families and a Ventura woman who helps the elderly have won 1991 Woman of the Year awards from the California Legislature.

At a ceremony Monday in Sacramento, the Women’s Caucus of the Legislature recognized Jo Ann Bellen of Thousand Oaks, Sister Patricia Callahan of Ventura, and about 100 other women nominated for Woman of the Year awards by their state legislators.

Bellen was nominated by Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks). Callahan was nominated by state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria).

In 1984, Callahan set up the Buenaventura Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, which links volunteers with needy elderly people to help them remain at home rather than enter nursing homes. “She has enriched the lives of hundreds of elderly persons,” Hart said.

Four years ago, Bellen helped develop a system for advising the families of California Army and Air National Guard personnel of their rights and the resources available to them.

Bellen’s husband, Lt. Col. J. Thomas Bellen, is an Air National Guard pilot and chief of the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing’s command post at the Channel Islands base. Jo Ann Bellen has conducted seminars for thousands of military dependents in the state.

The Gulf War increased the demand on her family support program. “Since deployment, I’ve been so active at the base,” she said. Much of her time, she said, has been devoted to explaining military benefits and what families are entitled to once reservists are called to active duty.

Bellen said her work during the Gulf War included helping families of reservists establish their own support groups, and lending a sympathetic ear.

“We saw a lot more fear during the war,” she said.