Why did you become a mentor?

Esperanza: I was at dinner with a group of friends, talking about the need for mentors and guidance to young women of color. So I did some research and found GirlsFirst. I decided to be the guinea pig and report back on my experience to my friends.

What kind of activities do you and Luz do together?

E: We meet up at least once or twice a month; it depends on Luz’s schedule. We do lots of different things: go to movies, workshops; we went to see Luis Rodriguez at Town Hall.

Luz, were you excited to have a mentor?

Luz: When I went into the first meeting in September, I didn’t know what to expect. I just hoped I would get someone good! And I wound up getting the best mentor.

What have you learned from each other?

L: I’ve learned so many things. Espy tells me I can have anything I dream, I just have to work hard for it. She’s helped me so much with school. Ever since I started GirlsFirst, my grades have gone up. I want to get a 4.0 this year and I’m only five points away!

E: She makes me more humble. Being a mentor makes you reflect on what you’re saying. If I tell her something, then I have to believe it and live it. So you change too. You both become better people.

What would you tell one of your friends now about becoming a mentor?

E: I’m really glad that I did this… It just feels like [Luz is] another family member. I know we will see each other, even after this is over.

If you’re searching for an opportunity to grow personally while serving as an ally to a young woman, consider attending a GirlsFirst Mentoring informational session .  Details about our next session are below–join us to learn more about becoming a GirlsFirst mentor!

June 13 from 6–7 p.m.
YWCA Alvirita Little Center
708 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Margie Haywood at mhaywood@ywcaworks.org or 206.568.7855 for details.

Here at Dress for Success Seattle, we have a group of amazing and committed volunteers! There are eleven personal dressers who come in each week to meet one-on-one with our clients. Their job is to help these women find clothing that will be appropriate for job interviews and the workplace.

They provide expert fashion and style advice, tips and tricks for job interviews, and moral support to each person they work with. Our dressers build a personal relationship with every client, so they leave not just with clothes, but with new confidence and hope for the future.

In 2012, our volunteers helped us suit more than 300 women. Their level of commitment and dedication is phenomenal. Thanks to each and every one of you for helping Dress for Success Seattle empower women!

Submitted by Grace Park, Richelle Harrell, and Jackie Smalley — the DFSS Team

In October 2011, Angie Madrid joined the Advancement team on a tour of Family Village Redmond, this was her first introduction to our team and her first volunteer hours. From the moment she met everyone, her upbeat personality, infectious smile and dedication touched us all.

In the eighteen months that Angie has supported the Donor & Information Services team, she learned the how to use the Raiser’s Edge system and has added 1,200 constituent records to our database, 1,111 gifts in kind and registered 568 people for events! It goes without saying that Angie’s contributions are immeasurable.  Angie started work at a full-time job in downtown Seattle the day after the 2012 Seattle Luncheon and in the process of her interview, negotiated with her employer to volunteer two hours on two mornings a week.  She reminds us that volunteering doesn’t necessarily need to be working directly with the people we serve. Her administrative skills deserve a gold medal.

Submitted by Norma Addis, Director of Donor & Information Services

Penny has been a longtime volunteer at YWCA Family Village Redmond child care. For as long as anyone here can remember, every Wednesday she has been in all three of our classrooms, providing extra care and support to the children.

She is always there to help out with circle time and leads us in an arts and crafts activity on most days. She loves reading with the children and really engages with them on their level. She even rearranges her schedule on field trips days to provide extra care. Penny is not only generous with her time – she also supports the families we serve as an Adopt-a-Family sponsor and with Christmas-time donations to the child care center.

The children always look forward to seeing her and so do our staff.  We love our volunteer Penny!

Submitted by Family Village Redmond staff member Taryn Kyle

At Seattle University’s Masters in Teaching program, the goal is to educate students so they can go and serve in diverse settings throughout the world. These skills helped me as a teacher at Cougar Ridge Elementary School for ten years. When I recently had a break in my career path, I found myself reflecting on my experience in this program and using those skills to brainstorm a new place to serve.

Then, when I attended an open house for Swedish Hospital in Issaquah, I stopped by the booth for YWCA Family Village Issaquah and their child care partner Bright Horizons. When I heard about the well-organized, enthusiastic and caring group of people who served their community through the YWCA, I was hooked!

I wanted to incorporate a new hobby of mine, edible gardening, with my experience working with children. Maybe I could offer the YWCA a program that made biology fun, where kids learned where food comes from and helped them become more responsible, patient and compassionate? When I proposed the idea to the director of FVI, Degale Cooper, she was receptive and encouraged me to try it out.

We started the Gettable Edibles program in April 2012. Twice a week, the kids who live at Family Village Issaquah learned that they could indeed be gardeners. We sowed seeds on a small a plot on the grounds of FVI and cared for the young plants as they grew, and also grew plants from seeds and starts in small containers. The kids returned to each session with their updates, sometimes victorious and sometimes sad. “My lemon verbena bit the dust!”

The garden helped the kids grow more enthusiastic about science and I made sure our lessons were connected to Issaquah School District standards. I was not surprised when the kids started to noticed not only their own plot, but the rosemary, strawberry and blueberry plants growing around the grounds of FVI. They asked me, “What about those ones, are we going to take care of them?” I replied, “Of course we can.” (…and eat them, I thought to myself!)

I love helping the kids get their hands dirty with projects that make gardening fun and tasty. One of their favorite lessons included learning about any plant that could be made into food that we could eat, where we blended juicy strawberries, fresh chopped mint, fresh-squeezed lemonade and ice to create delicious smoothies. Now, at each one of our meetings, the kids not only ask, “What are we going to grow next?” but also, “What are we going to eat?”

Watching nature’s cycle unfold through the eyes of a child over a year has been a hugely rewarding experience. When I see something happening out in nature or with my plants at home, I am eager to share it with the kids. I am delighted to see their enthusiasm as they explore the fields of science, gardening and food, and nothing makes me feel better than looking at their work and telling them, “You’re a great gardener!”

The feeling you get from helping people in need is usually its own reward, but for twelve-year-old Jessica Chin, volunteering brought a benefit she never expected:  an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. and $1,000 prize!

Jessica is no stranger to service; she has volunteered many hours with the Humane Society and Baby Boutique.  When she learned about the YWCA School Days volunteer project last summer, she enthusiastically pitched in alongside her family and prepared bags of school supplies for local students in need.  “Jessica wanted to stay and keep helping,” said her mother, Lander Chin. “She had just gone shopping for her own school supplies, and felt connected to the kids who weren’t going to have new things otherwise.”

Six months later, the Chin’s received a letter with a memorable announcement; because of her history of service at the YWCA and across the Seattle community, Jessica had won the Prudential Spirit of Community Award! She is one of two honorees from Washington State to receive this distinction, given annually to the top youth volunteers in the country. ”I was really excited,” Jessica said about the award, and her family is just as thrilled. She and her parents will travel to Washington, D.C. in May, where she will be recognized alongside other outstanding young volunteers from across the country.

Jessica’s accomplishment is a shining reminder of all the talented, dedicated individuals we are lucky to have as part of the YWCA volunteer network. We applaud Jessica and her family for their spirit of community engagement and can’t wait to hear about her trip to “the other Washington”! If you would you like to join volunteers like Jessica for School Days 2013,  contact Volunteer Services Coordinator Emma Ramsbottom, eramsbottom@ywcaworks.org, or visit our website for a full list of YWCA volunteer opportunities.

The personal is political for attorney Kay Field, who received the 2012 Pro Bono Award from the Washington State Bar Association for her work with YWCA Pathways for Women, located in Snohomish County.

This award reflects Kay’s commitment to helping women and her ability to empathize and connect with her clients. For more than a decade, she has helped them navigate the legal system and fight for their rights. In particular, she provides a safe space for her often anxious clients, reassuring them that she is on their team.

When asked why she has taken this path, she replied, “I love what I do, but it’s hard because the need is so huge. I’m just one little piece.” Being recognized for her work with this award was a pleasant surprise for Kay. “It was very, very special [because] I never thought I’d receive it, working from my corner.”

And she hopes to see more volunteer involvement and funding for positions such as hers at Pathways, because there still a lot of work to be done. Thank you Kay Field for your much appreciated, inspiring dedication to the YWCA!

Hours before the sale even started, a line of shoppers wound around the corner for the first chance at fashions from Dolce Vita, Eileen Fisher and Michael Kors. In addition to being the first to shop these discounted designers, guests at the VIP Preview Sale on Friday night were treated to Girly Girl Wines, Pinkabella cupcakes, a fashion show and live DJ.

While looking fabulous in their cocktail attire, our volunteers stayed busy: they served wine, dressed mannequins, provided fitting rooms, ran clothing back to the racks, and manned the cash registers. As a thank you for their hard work, each volunteer got a “buy one get one free” coupon so they too could take advantage of these marvelous deals.

If you didn’t make it to this event, there is good news: you can shop the YWCA 5^th Avenue Boutique in downtown Seattle, where we offer steeply discounted high fashion clothing and accessories year-round. We also have ongoing volunteer opportunities for YWCA Clothing Services programs; contact us at volunteer@ywcaworks.org if you are interested.

Thanks to all our Closet Treasures Sale volunteers for making this event such a success; we hope to see you next year!

 At YWCA Passage Point, volunteers from Microsoft got their hands dirty weeding the garden beds .

At our flagship YWCA Seneca location, the lovely ladies from HomeStreet Bank sorted, organized, and prepared clothing donations for Dress for Success Seattle, Working Wardrobe, and the upcoming YWCA Closet Treasure Sale.

Because the YWCA Spruce Street office will be moving soon, volunteers from Dorsey & Whitney packed up donations, supplies, and did a lot of heavy lifting!

With special gloves in hand, volunteers from Darigold emptied, cleaned and restocked the YWCA Central Area Food Bank.

Thanks to the United Way of King County and the United Way of Snohomish County for bringing together such a wonderful group of people in support of the YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish!

]]> http://volunteerywca.org/2012/10/08/big-hearts-and-dirty-hands-at-the-united-way-day-of-caring/feed/ 0 DSC00585 ywcavolunteer DSC00564 DSC00571 DSC00574 DSC00577 DSC00578 DSC00583 DSC00584 DSC00585 DSC00586 DSC00590 http://volunteerywca.org/2012/10/03/girlsfirst-mentors-plant-the-seeds-for-success/ http://volunteerywca.org/2012/10/03/girlsfirst-mentors-plant-the-seeds-for-success/#comments Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:29:40 +0000 ywcavolunteer http://volunteerywca.org/?p=1004 Read More →]]> Last month, the young women enrolled in YWCA GirlsFirst started off the school year by meeting their mentors, a group of inspirational and successful women from a variety of professional fields and backgrounds. Their mission: to help guide these girls on the path to high school graduation and college enrollment.

Too often, girls of color have few people in their lives who expect them to graduate high school and continue on to college. The GirlsFirst program challenges these external and internalized standards by providing a supportive system for these girls to learn, grow and achieve their full potential. The relationships they build with their mentors are an important part of this process.

The mentors and mentees gathered together at the Alvirita Little Center on September 17. After introductions, there was a friendly competition between the groups to match up famous couples. To the mentees dismay, the mentors won – with an obvious generation gap revealed. Who would have known that Mark Antony wasn’t with J. Lo, but actually Cleopatra?

The night ended with the announcement of mentor/mentee matches and their first one-on-one meetings. As the room filled with excited chatter and laughter, the pairs exchanged information, planned further meet-ups, and built the foundation for positive, life-changing relationships.

Would you like to help change the life of a young woman? Many volunteer opportunities exist, including mentoring and tutoring. There are also short-term volunteer opportunities, like mock interviews and monthly Leadership in Action Days. For more information, visit our website.