Source: Tri-Valley Herald

http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_2962203

On August 22, 2005 the Tri-Valley Herald reported, "In a nondescript two-story house in a residential neighborhood... two women with shaved heads wearing rust and saffron robes sit on mats and meditate... [Bhikkhuni Sister Tathaaloka] is one of two fully ordained female Buddhist bhikkhunis who spent much of last week turning [a] rented home on Essanay Place in Fremont into the first retreat home in the country specifically designed for women seeking ordination into the Buddhist monastic lifestyle... This weekend, the new Buddhist retreat home for women held its opening blessing and open house for the neighborhood. The new home is named Dhammadharini, which means to uphold the Dharma in the feminine form, in the ancient classical Pali language of Southeast Asian Buddhism... The past decade has seen an emergence of a modern revival in Southeast Asia of the ancient tradition of full ordination for women. Although the Bay Area has also seen the establishment of numerous Buddhist monasteries and temples, none have been led by female members of the monastic clergy."