Tag Archives: Annual report

Mariposa program updated for ‘Gen Alpha’

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Two girls smile up from a desk top where they have been building objects from marshmallows and toothpicks

In 2024, Mariposa leaders entered Walla Walla fifth grade classrooms with a fully updated curriculum for this group of students who started school in 2019 and were in kindergarten when the pandemic hit in 2020.

Today’s fifth-graders are part of the first generation to spend their lives immersed in social media, with screens everywhere.

Changes in the use of technology in and out of school have had a major influence on these girls’ early learning experiences and continue to shape their worlds.

They have health and relationship challenges related to screen time, including loneliness, isolation, obesity, and cyber-bullying.

The YWCA is all about helping women and girls become leaders in their own lives, said Rebecca Patterson, Mariposa Coordinator, and we need to meet them where they are.

If we don’t include the online space where so much of their lives are happening, she said, we’re missing a big opportunity to help girls learn and grow.

Sponsorship: More than logos

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When organizations sponsor a YWCA event, you might be surprised how deep the support goes.

Providence St. Mary Medical Center regularly goes above and beyond financial support.
“We know when we contribute to YWCA, through sponsorship of an event, bringing a hot meal to the shelter, or other ways,” said Emily Volland, Providence Communication Director, “that people will be served, hope will be shared, our community will be positively im-
pacted, and the team at YWCA will be faithful stewards of gifts given.”

Banner Bank too went beyond a sponsorship, offering a financial literacy class for YWCA clients. Danni Schack, who works in mortgage loans and customer service at Banner, was one of the instructors. “I had personal experience as a single mom making it on my own, so this is near and dear to my heart.”

The class was excited to learn how credit scores work, said YWCA Outreach Coordinator Celia Guardado. “Low credit scores can limit your rental options and make it harder to buy a house or car.”

“Meeting these women made a big impact on me,” Danni said. “It moved me to help sponsor a family at Christmas, and I’ve just joined the 2024 YWCA board.”

When you see that a favorite organization supports YWCA Walla Walla, invite them to share why the mission matters to them. And let them know how much you appreciate their care for families who need a safe new start.

Communities rally around children

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Photo shows small play kitchen with a colorful road in front

WITH SOME HELP from Sen. Maria Cantwell, $413,000 in federal funds were earmarked for Columbia County Health System (CCHS) to transform Booker Rest Home into RoseMary’s Place.

Without our CCHS partners, the center wouldn’t be preparing to open this April.

But having been chosen to operate Dayton’s new licensed childcare left YWCA Walla Walla with furniture to buy, staff to hire, training to acquire, and supplies to select.

Fortunately, YWCA partners in Walla Walla and Columbia counties believe childcare, like health care, is critical to community wellbeing.

Anchored by a $200,000 Sherwood Trust grant, YWCA approached additional grantors like the Blue Mountain Community Fund, Columbia REA, Innovia, and Wildhorse Resort & Casino to help prepare the center for kids.

“RoseMary’s Place, like My Friends’ House in Walla Walla,” said YWCA Director of Childcare Tabitha Haney, “will set a very high standard for early learning. We are grateful for all the amazing support.”

A shelter story

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SHE STOOD in front of me with only the clothes on her back and said, “I don’t know what to do.”

But she had already done it! She had found the courage to walk into the YWCA and ask for help.

Once a successful business owner, she now struggled to share her painful story of having loved a man who no longer referred to her as Maggy, but as idiot, stupid and crazy.

Alone and isolated from friends and family, she had left him but found herself without a job or even a roof over her head.

While scrambling through her purse, in tears, she found a flyer she’d picked up days before. It talked about domestic violence, and it sounded a lot like her own story.

That’s when she’d decided to call the YWCA 24/7 crisis line.

At the shelter, Maggy was immediately embraced by an advocate who walked with her on her journey. Her advocate provided new clothing and toiletries, and when she asked, helped her file a protection order.

Maggy was offered a warm and safe place to stay where she could focus on the healing process as she continued to share her story. By the following week, she was already connecting with an array of community resources and beginning her journey towards independence and believing in herself again.

Speaker sparked record giving

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YWCA USA board president Tina Herrera at the 2023 YWCA Luncheon podium giving the keynote address

A few months after keynote luncheon speaker and YWCA USA Board President Tina Herrera headed up our biggest fundraiser, inspiring record-high giving by an enthusiastic Walla Walla crowd, she attended the YWCA World Council.

The council convenes sister YWCAs from over 100 countries. Gathering virtually for the first time ever, delegates had an entire globe of time zones to contend with.

“For an entire week,” Tina said, “we met from 2 to 6 a.m. Pacific.” They passed resolutions of global impact and committed to addressing those issues locally.

Prominent roles were carried out by board members under age 30.

“World YWCA,” said Tina, “places a strong emphasis on providing opportunities for young women’s leadership development.”

She felt honored to be elected World YWCA board treasurer.

“For many countries,” said Tina, “the YWCA is the only place where women lead. I stand in awe of this global sisterhood to which we all belong, a source of empowerment for all women around the globe.”

Roller Girls never give up

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The LONGEST HELD tradition for the Walla Walla Sweets Roller Girls, according to team co-captain Vicki “Lois Slay’n” Hillhouse Miller, is taking gifts to the YWCA each year.

Launched in 2009, both for the sport of roller derby and as a nonprofit to raise awareness and funds for other organizations, the Roller Girls were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We haven’t had a bout in our town since late 2019,” Vicki said. But despite closures, they were able to maintain YWCA gift deliveries.

“The YWCA aligns with our mission of empowering women. That empowerment, for us,” Vicki said, “can come through a variety of channels.” These include the vulnerability of a challenging new workout, getting up without shame after a fall, and community building.

They look for gifts that are small but meaningful, said Vicki. “We ask our participants to think of something that would make them feel pampered, seen or cared for. Something they might want for themselves if they were in a space that wasn’t their own and facing a new future.”

Over the last year the Roller Girls have been actively rebuilding the team and hope to begin their first home season since 2019 soon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Butner