A Century of Empowerment through Employment

For a century the YWCA of Asheville has been at its essence dedicated to improving the economic wellbeing of women. During the 1920s, the Phyllis Wheatley branch acted as an informal employment referral agency for women looking for domestic work, while the Central YW offered classes for unemployed women on how to get a job and keep it. In the 1940s, the Business Girls’ League provided classes in self-improvement, social activities, and leadership opportunities.

A New Name for a New Day

Currently, the New Choices program, through case-management, access to child care, group support, and job-skills building, continues to serve women living below the poverty level who want to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Almost every woman who struggles to emerge from poverty faces compounding issues like lack of education and child care. Women seeking education face a double-bind: in order to receive child care assistance, they have to be a full-time student, but they cannot be a full-time students because they need child care assistance! New Choices breaks that bind.

“The most important thing I gained from attending New Choices is confidence in my skills and applying for a job with my resume.” – Sara

The YW has long understood the economic well-being of women depends on stable employment and reliable, first-rate childcare. Specifically for New Choices participants and for participants from 14 partner agencies, the YW offers the only free drop-in child care in Buncombe County. New Choices also teaches a 14-week empowerment series in collaboration with these partner agencies.

Women Helping Other Women

The Women for Women giving circle of the Community Foundation of WNC brings women together in an engaging and meaningful way. By combining financial resources and working with others, Women for Women makes high-impact grants to improve the lives of women and girls in our region. Since January 2005, Women for Women has given more than a two million dollars to programs helping women and girls in our region. The mission of Women for Women is to improve the lives of women and girls through women’s collective giving. Their vision is to empower women to take action, inspire hope and possibility and strengthen Western North Carolina.

Thank you, Women for Women members, for empowering the women of New Choices and the YWCA of Asheville!

Board President Melissa Williams and Executive Director Beth Maczka at the Women for Women Power of the Purse event today.

Stand Coalition Co-Chair Kathryn Liss, Dr. JeffriAnne Wilder, Stand Coalition Member James Lee. Dr. Wilder’s talk at the YMI was sponsored by Mission Health.

Here are some of the things people had to say about the 2013 Stand:

“It gets the word out and gives people a platform from which to address this issue.”

“I like the variety of events offered.”

“Energy, enthusiasm, important messages.”

“I loved the conference at UNC Asheville. Hearing from Dr. Livingston and talking with community members about the challenges our community faces regarding creating inclusive cultures was eye opening.”

“Our volunteers were proud to wear the stickers throughout the day and the evening’s performance.”

“It’s something tangible that students can participate in and feel good about.”

“Synergy of the individuals and organizations that participated. Collaboration is how we are going to create critical mass and momentum to make change.”

“Diversity of activities going on.”

“The opportunity to see the support of the City and County.”

“It brings awareness to our community.”

“Thoughtful dialogue about subtle racism.”

“I love that it’s a growing local and national movement – that helped everyone feel part of a bigger whole. Loved the ongoing reminders and increasing amount of support and resources being given to help us conduct our events.”

“I like seeing different organizations put on different events that suit their style /mission / purpose. I like how the events all crossed many lines other than racism, like how the film at the UU church also addressed LGBT and political issues.”

“Knowing that so many in our community were focused and aware of these relevant issues at the same time.”

“Great coalition building.”

“Keeping this important issue in front of the public.”

The YWCA welcomes Pearl Kyles as our new full time custodian. We are thankful to have Pearl working with us. She is always pleasant and has a smile while working and will tackle any task you ask of her. The locker rooms look beautiful thanks to Pearl’s diligence in keeping them clean. Visitors have been commenting on the cleanliness and great upkeep of our facility.

Thank you Pearl for everything you do to help keep our building and grounds clean, sanitized, and looking great. It is a pleasure working with you!

The first group are the oldest children in our Child Care Center, who will be heading to Kindergarten in the Fall. We hold a Child Care “graduation” every Spring, and it is always an adorable event, with lots of music. This year’s graduation is happening on Friday. Pictured here are last year’s graduates, many of whom are now participants in our After School program.

Another group of graduates we are very proud to celebrate are the eleven teens who have been participating in our MotherLove program who are graduating from high school. Thanks in part to support from MotherLove mentors and staff, these young women have beat the odds. Specifically, nationwide statistics show that only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age (CDC). Over the past ten years, 100% of seniors enrolled in MotherLove have graduated from high school.

We wish all of the graduates the best as they enter their next phase of life!

This past Sunday, at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on the campus of UNC Asheville, a very special ceremony was held to honor four of Asheville’s “Living Treasures.” Spring 2013 Designees included Thelma Porter, Julia Ray, and John and Hazel Robinson. These four individuals join only 13 other individuals who have been named as Living Treasures.

Julia Ray was nominated by the YWCA because of her involvement with the YWCA of Asheville as the Black and White branches integrated. Julia remembers attending events at the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA from the time she came to Asheville.

In 1954, the election of Lucille Burton—the first Black member of the Central YWCA board of directors—put the YWCA on what proved to be a long path towards integration. Black and White branches of the Asheville YWCA finally merged, moving into the formerly Black facility in 1970. With this merge, the YWCA of Asheville became the first integrated YWCA in the South. Thelma Caldwell, then acting Director, became the first Black YWCA Executive Director in the South, and the second in the nation.

In 1976, determined to carry on the work of Thelma Caldwell, twenty-two Black former YWCA board members including Julia formed the YWCA Booster Club to supplement the current Board’s efforts and in particular to be a support to the first Black board president, Ollie Reynolds. This group supported the work of the YW in myriad ways up until only a few years ago.

Julia Pauline Greenlee Ray was born in Marion, NC in 1914. She graduated from Barber-Scotia College in Concord and later attended the University of Pittsburgh. After graduation and before going to Pittsburgh she came back to Marion. While there she would visit her aunt in Asheville because Marion had “little social opportunity.” Because the South was still segregated at that time blacks “made their own social events”. They able to meet in restaurants or bars so they met at each other’s homes and churches.

Both of Julia’s parents were masters of their crafts. Julia’s father was a well-known ornamental plasterer and her mother was a seamstress and needle worker.  Julia learned her intricate sewing skills from her mother. Julia won numerous awards for her cross-stitch.

Julia met her husband Jesse Ray when his mother showed him a picture of a beautiful young woman in the Pittsburgh Courier, a nationally circulated newspaper for Blacks. Her picture was on the front page. Julia had been accepted to the University of Pittsburgh and was attending college there. He decided to write to her When Julia visited Asheville, she had the chance to meet Jesse at the home of a cousin. Julia decided not to return to Pittsburg, but married Jesse instead. They were married for 59 years until his passing in 1994.

After WWII, the Rays purchased the Asheville Colored Hospital at the corner of Biltmore Avenue and Charlotte Street, and began Jesse Ray Funeral Home. They ran this business successfully for many years. Early on, the lower level served as the funeral home and the upper floor as the family residence.

Julia was the first African-American on the Board of Trustees of Mission Hospital, and served for 8 years as a trustee of UNC Asheville, appointed by the Governor. She served on the first board of the NC Center for Creative Retirement at UNC Asheville. She also served on the Friends of the YMI and helped to establish the Goombay Festival.

YWCA Executive Director Beth Maczka speaking at the Living Treasures event.

In 2003, the YMI rededicated their auditorium to honor Julia and Jesse. In 2007, Julia received the annual Mission/MAHEC Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her pioneering service to the Asheville medical community. In 2012, Julia traveled to Las Vegas to receive than award from the National Funeral Directors Association proclaiming her a Living Legend of Funeral Service for her 74 years of service.

Julia Ray and Holly Jones at the Living Treasures event.

Julia will celebrate her 99th birthday this October. We are immeasurably grateful to her for years of service to the YWCA of Asheville.

Project POWER/AmeriCorps volunteer Sarah Coston works with MotherLove, and had this to say about the event:

We are so thankful that so many of our volunteers and program supporters could attend the banquet and allow us to honor them in person. Their contribution to the MotherLove program is truly invaluable.  Their time, donations, and knowledge shared influence each participants future strengthening their safety net and giving them the knowledge they need and the opportunity to succeed. Without each and every one of them the MotherLove program would be at a loss. We would like to thank all of our mentors as well as the following people:

* Greg Spray for organizing and hosting a free shopping spree event with clothes, toys, and parenting tools for program participants and their children.

If you would like to find out more about the MotherLove program, contact Tangela Ballard-Bowman at 254-7206 x 116 or email tbowman@ywcaofavl.org. If you’d like to make a donation to the program, click here.

I am very excited about this year’s Asheville Stand Against Racism. We have an active community-wide coalition which plans the events (see a list of members here). In our planning this year, we heard from several local African American leaders in our coalition that the most important issue for people of color in our community is economic justice.

As we discussed this, we found that lack of satisfying employment is the key issue in our having such a small middle class within the Black and Latino communities. Although there is significant hiring at the entry level, people of color do not get the mentoring and support they need to be able to advance. Instead, Asheville institutions tend to hire from outside the community for mid and upper level positions. People of color move here to take those middle class jobs and find that they have a limited community of people similar to themselves. We need to retain, promote and mentor people who already have friends and family in the community so that they have reason to stay here even when they have significantly improved their credentials and job status. This will also become a community of peers that others from the outside can join.

Thus, we are delighted that Buncombe County and the City of Asheville partnered with UNC Asheville to bring Robert Livingston to Asheville to present the “Realizing the Benefits of a Diverse & Inclusive Workforce” conference this Thursday, April 25. Robert Livingston is a diversity researcher whose research examines how physical appearance and non-conscious processes influence stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. He is also interested in the topic of diversity in leadership. Specifically, he investigates the unique challenges confronting women and minorities in upper management, as well as the conscious and non-conscious processes underlying leader selection. Along with his speech, there will be a variety of presenters from the community to provide a marketplace of short breakout sessions which will allow the 240 people from 50 local organizations to learn more about welcoming diversity and inclusion into their workplaces.

Find out about other Stand Against Racism events happening this weekend and next week at www.ywcastand.org.

This post is part of the YWCA Stand Against Racism blog carnival – we invite you to join the dialogue! Post your comment below, share your story and follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #StandAgainstRacism.

See more here.

Message from YWCA Executive Director Beth Maczka:

Last Saturday, 86 YWCA staff members gathered at the Sherrill Center at UNCA Asheville for a day of team building and learning.

We had a chance to see who makes up the YWCA Team from 7 different departments and to celebrate our amazing diversity. We learned about unintentional bias that can separate us and the strengths that can bring us together. And we learned to enhance our communication skills for improved day to day interactions and solution seeking.

Our consultants, Desiree Adaway, Erika Hines, and Krista Padgett kept things moving and, more often than not, we were laughing as we learned from each other. I, for one, know I need to brush up on “the Wobble,” in preparation of next week’s Black and White Gala!

Clearly this is one step along a process that has been going on for years, and one that we will continue to prioritize. Our commitment to the Stand Against Racism is year-round and is both internal with our staff and board and external in our hosting of the Stand Against Racism Coalition.

Over the next two weeks, I invite you to think about your own personal Stand Against Racism. Perhaps it is a simple conversation around your dinner table or an invitation to a person of color to learn about their experience over coffee or lunch. Perhaps your community of faith or workplace can read an article or discuss a movie that highlights the injustice of racism in our community. There are a number of free community events happening this week that you can attend as well. The Stand Against Racism buttons proclaim, “Racism Hurts Everyone” and indeed it will take everyone to eliminate it.

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One of our new classes in Club W: the YWCA Health & Fitness Center is Tabata, which meets Mondays and Wednesdays at 11:30 am. This high intensity class is 30 minutes, allowing a members to fit a great workout into their busy days.

Not sure what Tabata is? Tabata was founded in Japan by Izumi Tabata. He conducted tests on two groups of athletes; comparing moderate high intensity training with high intensity interval training. The results were that the athletes training in high intensity interval training improved their aerobic systems as well as their anaerobic system. The athletes who did the moderate high intensity training only improved their aerobic system and had little to no increase in their anaerobic system. Tabata is fun, blasts calories, and moves so quickly it’s hard to get bored. You do 20 seconds hard work, with 10 second rest then repeat for a series of cycles with a 30 second rest in between.