On May 23, 2017, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of our YWCA charter with a birthday party.

A letter and the above certificate from Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s office alerted us to another anniversary. This Century Corporation Certificate commemorates our incorporation 100 years ago in April 1919.

“Incorporations were at that time either delivered by horseback, steam wheeler or train. Because few owned cars, and the roads outside of Olympia were virtually impassable, incorporating a business was quite an adventure,” the letter said.

We don’t have a record of how, but no doubt the women who raised a year’s operating expenses ($5,000) in one week were up to the task!

Nearly 2,500 incorporations were filed in Washington state in 1919, and only 23 still exist today, two in Walla Walla: YWCA and Colfax Consulting Service.

“When I first started exploring the possibility of becoming an Early Achievers childcare center, I put the question to my staff: Do we want to take on all his extra work?” said Tabitha Vance, YWCA Director of Childcare.

She explained to her team that the accreditation process would mean having observers in classrooms for two hours or more, watching their every move. It would mean more training and reams of new record-keeping. And it meant striving to provide the very best experience for every child in the program.

“What makes me so proud of this staff is that they were behind the effort 100 percent. And they are determined to get to the next level!” At their first evaluation, Tabitha and her staff were thrilled to earn a three-star rating. The next evaluation will be this spring, and the staff hopes to maintain this level and eventually add a fourth star.

Early Achievers scores address three areas: child outcomes, curriculum and staff support, and family engagement. “We are really strong,” said Tabitha, “in engaging families. We have a great collection of brochures, games, books and DVDs for our parents that address a wide areas of needs.”

One of her favorite books to recommend is Ignore it! “It’s about knowing which behaviors are OK to ignore. Making an issue of annoying behavior can actually reinforce it. Sometimes it really is OK to look the other way!”

The center has also had great success with family parties and open house events. “Parents appreciate the chance to meet other parents and also to meet a favorite teacher they’ve heard about but haven’t met. We’ve had some good times!”

YWCA Walla Walla’s Fireside Room was festive on Monday, February 4, when nearly 80 friends joined staff and board members at the 101st Year-in-Review Luncheon. The annual event celebrates the previous year’s accomplishments and those people who have helped YWCA staff serve women and families.

YWCA LiNC Director Deana York spoke about the program’s first year. LiNC, Living in New Circumstances, focuses on helping people move beyond survival and learn practical skills that will help them thrive. One of the 46 domestic violence survivors (pictured, right) who has completed the program spoke movingly about her newfound self-confidence.

YWCA Prevention Specialist Kenia Pineda and Mariposa Leader Hannah Siepmann (pictured) talked about their prevention work with middle and high school students. The goal of YWCA prevention programs is to help young people learn how to establish healthy relationships. As YWCA Executive Director Anne-Marie Zell Schwerin explained, “Our first priority is helping domestic violence and sexual assault survivors feel safe, respected, and believed, but our goal is a world where every girl is on her way to achieving her dreams and there is no domestic violence to hold her back.”

In addition to sharing successes, several individuals and businesses were recognized for outstanding YWCA service. Board member Anne Moore (pictured with board member Kristine Holtzinger) received a staff award for her work highlighting the YWCA at community events. Office Assistant Luna Fairbanks was honored by the YWCA Board for setting an extremely high bar when it comes to representing the YWCA and its clients. The staff volunteer award was presented to Whitman College senior and YWCA Intern Maeve McCracken.

Community partners Northwest Collision, Whitehouse-Crawford, Seven Hills Winery, Shop Eleven, Sweetwater Paper and Home, and DAMA Wines were each honored for their many contributions to YWCA Walla Walla.

Maybe you’ve heard Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, described as Mexican Halloween. But according to YWCA Advocate Lorena Ault, it’s much more than that.

“In our culture,” Lorena said, “Dia de los Muertos is a way to celebrate and honor our departed loved ones. Because so many come together for this event, it is also a way for Walla Walla to build community.”
This year’s celebration took place the Wednesday before the two-day holiday that falls on Nov. 1, All Saints Day, which honors the saints and innocent children and Nov. 2, when all others are remembered. The festival is known for spectacular displays of bright flowers and beautifully decorated skulls.

Lorena, along with YWCA Community Relationships and Outreach Coordinator Celia Guardado (pictured), led out in the festival planning, assisted by Whitman College Community Fellow Daphne Gallegos. All three are bilingual and bicultural.

The event incorporated art, music (notably the Villalobos Brothers, pictured, who also performed with the Walla Walla Symphony), food, and dance.
Central to the Day of the Dead is El Altar, a display created to celebrate, remember, honor, and keep a connection with lost loved ones.

Lorena noted that memorial displays may not always be called “altars,” but every culture creates displays of love and remembrance in response to death or tragedy. After the death of a celebrity, a mass shooting, a fire, a natural disaster — whenever humans face grief or loss, especially a large, shared loss — displays of flowers, notes, toys, and more appear to comfort the grieving and honor the dead.

Spanish-speaking cultures have learned that Art Heals (Cultura Cura). This belief makes the Dia de los Muertos celebration perfect for working with a population that has faced domestic violence and sexual assault. “When trauma and abuse happen to you, even if you survive, something inside you dies,” said Lorena. “Building an altar is a way to cope with that loss. In our support groups, I’ve had clients build altars as a healing ritual. Original pre-Columbian altars had levels to represent the different gods and the steps to the afterlife. Our healing altars can have levels too, to show the progress toward recovering from assault or from a dangerous relationship.”

The planning committee included representatives from many local organizations, including YWCA Walla Walla. In future years, the committee hopes to extend the building of healing altars to more groups who experience trauma, including perhaps veterans or first responders.

“The YWCA mission begins with eliminating racism and empowering women,” said Executive Director Anne-Marie Zell Schwerin. “When we gather to share and celebrate the power of Latin culture, racism falls away. And when ancient rituals are repurposed to heal the wounds of trauma, it has the potential to empower anyone in our community.”

On a December Saturday, nearly 60 fifth-grade girls from across Walla Walla came together for the Mariposa fall field trip.

These girls have spent the past three months learning leadership skills in small groups with their classmates. The field trip allowed them to meet the other girls in the program for a day of fun. They rotated in groups through three different stations: a slime-making experiment, a planetarium show, and a martial arts class. 

After the activities, the girls ate pizza and toured KWCW, Whitman’s radio station, which included a chance to talk and even sing on air!

It was a great day that allowed the girls to have fun and create a community with other girls in the district who are also learning how to be successful female leaders.

We have a saying at YWCA Walla Walla: “We never say goodbye at the YWCA.”

In the mid-1990s Kirsten Schober worked for YWCA’s Gourmet Gifts program. It wasn’t one of her favorite jobs; she claims to be fairly terrible at gift-wrapping. Fortunately, we have found a place for her this time that is a great fit for her experience and skills.

A little over twenty years after she left YWCA Walla Walla to finish her degree in Anthropology, Kirsten has come back to what she calls her “homey home.”

She most recently spent seven years managing Dayton’s historic Liberty Theater and has an extensive background in museology and historic preservation.

“As much as I enjoy working with arts and culture, I felt a pull to get more involved with an organization helping people transform their lives,” says Kirsten. “The nonprofit world is known for having committed employees who go above and beyond, but the team at YWCA Walla Walla is truly exceptional and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them.”

Kirsten will plan and organize YWCA events, from the Year-in-Review lunch that kicks off each year to the December holiday favorite, Hansel & Gretel Houses – and everything in between, including our largest event, the annual Leadership Luncheon. She will also work closely with the Executive Director and Communications Coordinator, who make up the rest of the development team.

“On Main between 2nd and 3rd,” says YWCA Executive Director Anne-Marie Zell Schwerin, “a past YWCA board member came out of an office with tears in her eyes and told me how amazing the shoe displays were.”

This was only one of many responses to the stories and corresponding shoes distributed downtown by YWCA Walla Walla with help from Walla Walla University student volunteers on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Part of Domestic Violence (DV) Action/Awareness month, the 52 stories were compiled by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence from published news accounts of all the fatalities, a total of 70, attributed to DV in Washington state during 2017.

Our past board member watched several people see the shoes and react to them, says Anne-Marie, and said it made her feel proud to be part of the YWCA.

“These stories are never easy to read,” says Jan Asher Dolph, YWCA Communications Coordinator. “Going through the 52 narratives, I felt oddly  grateful that this year included no law enforcement officers and ‘only’ one child, a 5-year-old boy whose father killed him and his mother before killing himself. Holding a child’s shoes and knowing they represent an actual little life lost — there are no words.”

“A woman came up to me and thanked me for bringing attention to this most important issue,” says Mary Byrd, YWCA Client Services Director. “She wanted a purple ribbon and a button to take back to work since she couldn’t join us.”

On Monday, Oct. 29, YWCA Walla Walla hosted what we hope is our first Evening of Graceful Space. Recognizing the tense atmosphere that currently surrounds sexual assault, an intimate group, several of them strangers to each other, gathered for respite and support.

There was no agenda for the evening, no goal beyond carving out some time to breathe in peace. In creating that space, people from diverse backgrounds were able to commune and enjoy each other’s company.

The YWCA provided a light supper and beverages. If you weren’t able to attend and would like notice of the next opportunity, please email YWCAWallaWalla@gmail.com.