Progress and Pride: YWCA changes its location, mission

From © The Bay City Times

By Andrew Dodson

When the YWCA of Bay County closed its pool and fitness center on Midland Road last year, officials were forced to re-evaluate the agency’s purpose and mission.

Today, the agency is branding itself regionally and placing more emphasis on its original mission: To provide growth and empowerment opportunities for women and families in order to embrace community diversity and promote peace.

In March, the YWCA of Bay County changed its name to the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region with goals of expanding its programs into Saginaw and Midland counties.

“We were happy to step in with the new branding of the region,” said Lisa Grills, the organization’s executive director. “Our programs started to dissipate because we spent all of our time and funding on the fitness center.

“Our real goals are to make these women economically self-sufficient.”

Brenda Scramblin, president of the YWCA’s Board of Directors, says the nearly 120-year-old organization has entered the third major chapter in its history.

Scramblin said the first chapter ended in 1969 when the YWCA opened its fitness center. The second chapter ended when the fitness center closed.

 The YWCA now makes its home in the United Way of Bay County building at 909 Washington Ave. in downtown Bay City.

But a new name and location are small potatoes compared to the organization’s future goal of opening a Women’s Resource Center to provide job skills training, education, computer literacy skills and legal and financial advice for the women of the community.

Grills said she hopes to accomplish that by 2011.

Grills said she is seeking federal appropriation funds to help open the center. She said the YWCA does plan to move forward with the resource center, even if it doesn’t receive funds.

But YWCA officials are hopeful those funds will come through. In February, they traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint, to discuss the issues in the Great Lakes Bay Region and request the funding.

“Levin, Stabenow and Kildee agreed to the recommendation and posted it on their website,” said Grills. “It doesn’t mean we will get the money, but with them making their recommendation, it improves the chances.”

While the transition for the new YWCA progresses, programs that Grills said are vital to the community continue, including:

•Family Enrichment Parenting Program that provides at-risk families with resources for a variety of issues.
•Camp Meadows and Camp Greener Pastures for special-needs children.
•Teen Leadership League that helps young women between ages 12 and 17 become leaders in their community.
•Week Without Violence that is observed every October by the YWCA to rid schools of bullying.
•Women in transition that provides women in the region an opportunity to return to school.
•Women’s Empowerment Symposium that promotes the advancement of women through networking, education and the exchange of resources.
When its fitness center closed last year, the YWCA had about 400 members on its roster, said Grills. Membership refunds have been paid, she added, and some past members have continued to support the YWCA as donors.

Today, there are 326 YWCAs in the United States, including seven in Michigan. The YWCA of Bay County has 10 employees.