Asheville’s Community Center

There’s a place for you at the YWCA of Asheville.  Located at 185 S. French Broad Avenue, the YWCA is convenient to downtown.  Stop by and you’ll see people from all walks of life laughing, playing, swimming, exercising and learning together.  Join the folks that come here to connect with others and to nurture themselves. We’ll do our best to make sure you feel at home.

Watch this blog for stories and news from your vibrant community center.

Woman for Woman Grant

The YWCA of Asheville recently received a Community Foundation Woman for Woman grant for $64,000 ($32,000 a year for 2 years) to continue to provide Drop-in Child Care service to women of low wealth who are seeking economic self-sufficiency. Drop-In Child Care is part of the YWCA’s New Choices economic empowerment program.

Securing affordable child care is one of the most critical barriers for women seeking economic self-sufficiency. This need was recently identified by Buncombe County as an economic development issue, and was determined to be one of their top priorities for 2009. Our services address two critical barriers women face when trying to improve their economic well-being: 1) flexible, affordable childcare while attending school or job training; and 2) access to essential job-related equipment necessary to begin work.

There are only 6 child care centers in Buncombe County who provide care outside standard work hours. The YWCA Drop-In Child Care Center is the only service of its kind in Buncombe County. Also in 2007-08, our Drop-in Child Care Center helped 151 families, which included 237 children. A-B Tech, Mountain BizWorks, OnTrack, and Buncombe County Literacy Council are some of the agencies serving clients who are seeking economic self-sufficiency who also use our Drop-in Child Care services.

We are very grateful for this grant. However, the YWCA can still use your support for our New Choices program. To make a donation, click here.

Volunteer Spotlight

Volunteer Blair Felder at "Work"

Blair Felder has been volunteering her time at the YWCA Child Care Center since the beginning of April.  She moved back to Asheville this year and wanted to continue working in a childcare setting like she had in Greensboro.  Blair finds that she learns something new every day from the children in her group.  She says that she enjoys this volunteer work so much that she has decided to pursue her childcare credentials at A-B Tech. We are very appreciative of the work that Blair does for the YWCA. She approaches her interactions and volunteer work with openness and joy. I am sure there are some two and three year-olds who want to join us in thanking Blair!

Blair is one of the many amazing volunteers who help the YWCA serve the Asheville community.  If you are interested in joining this dedicated group of people please contact me, Heidi Sistare, YWCA Volunteer Coordinator: heidi.sistare@ywcaofasheville.org, 828-254-7206 x204.

MotherLove Graduates

Ella and Aja Graduated from High School

Last week, seven participants in the YWCA MotherLove program graduated from high school. They are Djenne Henry, Ella Smith, Ruth Argueta, Aja Pankey, Julie Clubb, Jaleesa Franks and Chelsea Finley.

Of note is the fact that Chelsea has received the Dell Scholars Program Scholarship, which will provide her with $20,000 to offset the cost of college. The Dell Scholars Program is a need based scholarship recognizes academic potential in lower-income and underserved students; students are evaluated based on their individual determination to succeed as well as their demonstration ability to overcome obstacles and challenges, not on academic record alone. Chelsea plans to attend Western Carolina University to study to be a physical therapist. Her mother has made it clear that these successes would not have been possible without the MotherLove program and MotherLove Director Tangela Bowman. We hope to post an interview with them on this blog soon.

MotherLove is a mentoring program for pregnant and parenting teens. If you would like to make a contribution to the MotherLove program in honor of these graduates, please click here.

Collaborative Poem

This is from Rachel Herrick, Director of the YWCA FutureVision after-school program for high school students:

We have been working with Graham Hackett this past week with the LEAF in Schools and Streets.  Our workshop was on spoken word and poetry.  This poem is what we created as a group with the theme “Experimentation.” Each student wrote two lines, covered their first line so that the next student could only read the second line to go by and write their two lines, cover their first line, and so on. It was an enjoyable and interesting process for everyone involved! And we were all pleased with the results.

Experimentation
Experimentation is definitely
Our destination
Our streets littered with experimentation
Kids learn to sell drugs but catch a citation
Mix it up and throw my rhymes and my own style in
Throw some nitrogen oxide and try to make it blend
I try and I try but it just don’t mix
Why can’t I get it, why doesn’t it set in?
Experiment, making explosions
Testing, being different
Breaking boundaries, cutting ties that bind
Stepping out and shouting
Crying out and doubting
Don’t start the pouting
Maybe it’s time for your outing
Do it again, don’t give up
Be patient, determined, Damn!
People pokin’, proddin’, always got something to say
I’m losin’ my brain, goin’ insane
Trying it out, why shouldn’t I shout?
Screaming my own name, I start it all over again
Then dripping drops upon
My head hmmmm….. What’s that  smell?
Smells unique, melancholy, and wild
Like nothing ever before
Like a raining downpour.

Red Day

Thursday, May 14, was “Red Day” in the South French Broad Neighborhood.

Keller-Williams Real Estate agents, as well as many of their contractors, vendors, and suppliers, renovated a streetside garden at the YWCA, picked up trash on area streets, and did yard clean-up and home repairs for elderly and disabled in the neighborhood.

Agent Jennifer Farley, the organizer of the event,  proclaimed the day a great success, and hopes to grow the event each year. 

Keller-Williams is a YWCA Advocate. Advocates are year-round sponsors of the YWCA. To find out about how your company can sponsor the YWCA, contact Development Director Tami Ruckman at 254-7206 x 206.

Child Care Graduation

Last Friday the YWCA Child Care Center held it’s annual graduation ceremony. Six children will be moving on to Kindergarten in the Fall. The graduates were: Rodolfo Perex Millian, Ariana Hamiliton, KeShawna Moore, Rachel Russo Weatherly, J’Vonta Cox, and Taliyah Matos. Graduation was very well attended and featured music, skits, heartfelt speeches and more. Here are a couple photos from the event. We hope to post a video in the next couple of weeks. Congratulations!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
You can help support important programs like the YWCA Child Care Center. Click here to donate today!

Why I Work at the YWCA

I work at the YWCA because it feeds my soul. I have been here for 8 years in various positions and still look forward to coming to work. I take care of the people and the building both. I believe in the mission of the YWCA as it empowers me to be both a mother and career person. This place has been special for my family since my sons started Afterschool back in the mid 1990’s. My family considers the YWCA as home.

- Mary Beth Herman, Director of Operations and Human Resources

Take Back the Night

On Wednesday, May 27, from 5:30-8:30 pm YWCA SOS middle school students and program staff will be hosting a Take Back the Night event for the Asheville community.  Take Back the Night events are held across the country to raise awareness about sexual and domestic violence. 

This event is the grand finale of conversations, writing and learning through which the students have explored these issues. 

The event will be held at Randolph Learning Center and will include live music, refreshments, information from community organizations and an open mic session where students and community members can share words about sexual and domestic violence. 

We hope that you will join us for this  exciting and moving event!

Call 828-254-7206 x205 for more information.

Kenya Webster, Program Director
Seth Connelly, Site Coordinator
Miaisha Wadsworth,  AmeriCorps Member
Jessica Keith, AmeriCorps Member

New! Y Commute Pass

Whether you walk or bicycle to downtown Asheville, you now have an opportunity to shower before heading into the office.

The YWCA of Asheville at 185 S. French Broad Ave. is introducing a trial program called the “Y Commute Pass” which will be offered during the months of June, July and August 2009.  This program will allow bicycle commuters and walkers access to the locker room, a locker, and shower for $50.00 for the three months.

For more information, contact YWCA Membership Coordinator Carol Severance, 254-7206 x105.

New Choices Success

Every once in a while, the YWCA New Choices Director, Jenny Sliker, gets an email like the one below:

“I am overwhelmed with excitement, joy and gratitude….thank you so much for helping me take this photography class. I’m currently writing my business plan for Mountain Bizworks to get a business loan to buy my first professional camera! Attending this workshop and receiving tuition from the YWCA is going to help me gain the knowledge I need…to get my photography business going. Knowing that you and Kristine and the YWCA are behind me and supporting me in so many ways has helped to get me through one of the most challenging times in my life. 

I am hopeful now. Things are looking up!

Hugs to you and the New Choices crew,

Megan”

And now the rest of the story…

When Megan Richardson came to the New Choices office for assistance in December 2006, she had a desire to pursue a vocation in photography, but had to figure out how to do that and care for her two toddlers, ages 4 and 2. She had been separated for a year and a half, and was seeking ways to be more financially independent. She used the YWCA Drop-In Child Care service to go to court, seek educational opportunities and develop her photography business. The New Choices program was also able to provide funding to Megan for a 2 day photography workshop in March 2008 sponsored by The Rocky Mountain School of Photography, an opportunity that could not be paid for by traditional financial aid. Megan also worked with Mountain Bizworks and received a business loan for a professional digital camera, and launched her business on line in April 2008.

Now, a year later, she is expanding her business with a studio, and has an updated website at www.greatsmokiesphotography.com – check it out! The photos in this post are all by Megan.