empowered - YWCA Seattle

empowered
summer news 2011
passage point reconnects moms
to their children — and their futures
At the tender age of 13, Cherdy Rials had endured physical and
sexual abuse and given birth to her first child. By the time she
was 15, Rials had started using crack cocaine and dealing drugs
in order to fit in with her boyfriend’s family.
Over the next two-and-a-half decades, life did not improve for
Rials, who had amassed a bulky rap sheet for crimes that included
burglary and drug offenses.
The light of Rials’ future was quickly fading.
But following a 2007 arrest for delivering drugs to an informant
and a 40-day stint in the county jail, Rials became eligible
for a corrections program called CCAP (for Community Center
for Alternative Programs), which provides alternatives to
incarceration. Instead of the potential decade behind bars she
was facing, Rials was given a chance to turn her life around.
Within a year, Rials moved out of a shelter, left her abusive
boyfriend, graduated from drug court and CCAP, and connected
with the YWCA. She enrolled in Passage Point, which provides
supportive housing to single parents returning to the community
after incarceration to help them reunite with their children.
Reentering the community from prison can be particularly hard
for those who have been incarcerated, noted Homeless Initiatives
Regional Director Linda Rasmussen. “It’s a very destabilized time
for those adults, because they have not been a part of the society
and they have a stigma associated with them,” she explained. That
creates barriers to finding jobs and housing, which hampers their
ability to reunify with their children.
“This often results in recidivism and re-incarceration, which
is expensive to our society,” Rasmussen added.
Cherdy Rials with her 5-year-old son Omario.
By 2008, Rials had seven children ranging in age from preschool
to adult. While she had custody of her youngest son, she was trying
to reunite with her teenage daughter. Meanwhile, her parental
rights had been terminated for twin boys who are now 10 and being
raised by Rials’ mother.
continued on page 7
what’s inside
02
message from our ceo
sustaining the cycle
of opportunity
04
2011 luncheon
wrap-up
07
stand against racism
08
women’s university club
awards scholarship
Queenie Evans
planned giving:
leave a legacy
of opportunity
“In 1978, when I first volunteered on
the YWCA finance committee, I saw
women (with the help of ‘a few good
men’) making a difference for women. That was really powerful then and
it is still powerful. I have felt part of
a unique organization and that my
skills, contributions and time were
valued. As a past board member,
I know that the YWCA is both effective
and efficient with contributions, and
that is why my husband and I have
included the YWCA in our wills.”
— Elaine Scherba,
Former YWCA board member
You, too, can support the YWCA into
the future through planned giving.
Contact Anne Lehmer at 206.490.4372
or alehmer@ywcaworks.org.
a message from our ceo:
sustaining the cycle
of opportunity
This summer, the YWCA is opening the doors to two new innovative Eastside housing
developments that will strengthen communities by unlocking a host of opportunities
for women and their families.
The developments — YWCA Passage Point in Maple Valley and YWCA Family Village
at Issaquah — will provide homes for individuals who face a variety of housing barriers.
YWCA Family Village at Issaquah offers 146 units of affordable, permanent housing
in the Issaquah Highlands for working families, people with disabilities and seniors.
Residents will pay rents at a reduced-market rate, enabling them to live in a community
they otherwise could not afford.
YWCA Passage Point will provide supportive housing to parents leaving the corrections
system who seek to reconnect with their children. The program will help these residents
gain the skills and confidence necessary to be self-sufficient and create a stable environment
with positive educational and social opportunities for their children.
The funding that makes both communities possible illustrates how the YWCA combines
the investments that clients make in themselves with private contributions to leverage
broader community support. This funding model relies on all three elements — private
donations, client investments and public resources — to enable us to create sustainable
opportunities for women in transition.
One vital community resource is the King County Veterans and Human Services Levy,
which generates funding to help veterans, military personnel and their families, as well
as other families in need. Both Passage Point and Family Village at Issaquah are supported
by the levy.
The Women Empowered (WE)
Campaign is a bold response
to growing community needs. This
inspired response will maximize
support for essential YWCA services
for women and families — now
and into the future.
This three-year, $26.5 million
integrated campaign has three focus
areas: our capital campaign (YWCA
Family Village at Issaquah), our
endowment and our annual fund.
The campaign fills a critical void
and supports our community’s overall
health to ensure a stronger future
for women and families.
Follow the campaign on ywcaworks.org
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King County voters will be asked to renew the Veterans and Human Services Levy
in August. Voting “yes” will reauthorize the levy at its current level and will not raise
taxes. (See related story on next page.)
Last month, the King County Council affirmed the importance of this levy by voting
unanimously to send the measure to the ballot. We encourage you to exercise your right
to vote and show your support for this critically needed revenue source. Doing so will
help sustain the cycle of opportunity.
Sue Sherbrooke
CEO, YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish
s u m m e r 2 011
opening doors to new homes
and new hope this summer
Our saws have been abuzz on the Eastside, building two new communities for families facing
barriers to housing. Both communities are poised to welcome new residents this summer.
YWCA Family Village at Issaquah provides 146 permanent homes to those who seek
an affordable place to raise children, build fulfilling lives and plan for their futures.
Residents will represent all walks of life — from new teachers to health-care workers
and seniors — and all will contribute to a dynamic community. A celebration of the new
community will be held October 25.
YWCA Family Village at Issaquah. Left: The courtyard and commons sit at the center of the community.
Right: YWCA Board Member Betsy Moseley shows off one of the unit’s washers and dryers.
YWCA Passage Point in Maple Valley is a supportive residential community for parents
discharged from the corrections system who would otherwise be homeless and who seek
to reunite with their minor children and families. The community includes 46 housing units
and supportive services, such as parenting classes and mental health counseling.
YWCA Passage Point under construction. The residence will open this summer.
Both projects are the tangible results of the YWCA’s Women Empowered (WE) Campaign — an ambitious $26.5 million effort in response to growing community needs. WE dollars
are funding construction of both Family Village and Passage Point. WE funds will
also support the program’s operations and services in both locations.
Capital campaign financial partners for YWCA Family Village include A Regional Coalition
of Housing (ARCH), Boston Capital, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, City of Issaquah,
KeyBank, King County Housing Authority and other county entities, The Norcliffe Foundation,
Washington State Department of Commerce, Washington State Housing Finance Commission
and many other WE Campaign contributors.
YWCA Passage Point’s capital campaign financial partners include King County Housing
Authority and other county entities, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Federal Home Loan
Bank, Washington State Department of Commerce and the Washington State Housing
Finance Commission.
ywcaworks.org
king county
veterans and human
services levy needs
your “yes” vote
In the midst of difficult times, our community
comes together to care for our neighbors. We
have a strong history of approving important
measures that support the opportunities
the YWCA creates through our programs.
Voters will be asked in August to renew one
of these measures — the King County Veterans
and Human Services Levy. Approved by voters
in 2005, the levy generates crucial funding
to help veterans, military personnel and their
families, and other King County residents
and families in need, through myriad housing
and supportive services.
The levy devotes $13.3 million per year
for six years to implement housing and human
services for these groups. If approved by
voters, the existing levy would continue for
an additional six years at the current rate
of 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That
means a property owner with a home assessed
at $350,000 would pay just $17.50 a year
for the levy. Passing the levy will not raise
taxes — it continues an effective levy that
has already been in place for the past six years.
Several programs and projects offered by
the YWCA are supported by the King County
Veterans and Human Services Levy, including
YWCA Family Village at Issaquah and YWCA
Passage Point. These programs underscore the
YWCA’s commitment to help meet the needs
of women and families in our community.
The YWCA also recognizes the important
role that veterans have played in our society,
so our organization provides a number
of services that benefit veterans, including
the Landlord Liaison Project and the Veterans
Outreach Assistance Program.
The YWCA encourages you to vote
yes for this critically needed funding — especially now, as vital human services
endure cuts from every level of government
while the need is still growing.
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you did it!
$1,486,054!
1
1. Alise, former Passage Point client, at the
Seattle Inspire Luncheon; 2. Andrea Jewett (left),
daughter of Kathi Goertzen, and Irma Goertzen,
mother of Kathi Goertzen, address the Seattle
Luncheon audience; 3. “We’re All in This Together,”
sing (from left to right) Kalena, Jasmin, Diamond,
Stephanie and Amaya (behind Kalena) from
YWCA Children’s Services at the Seattle Inspire
Luncheon; 4. Amy Welch (left), with her mother
YWCA Community Resources Coordinator
Luanne Kunz, at the Snohomish County Inspire
Luncheon; 5. Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger
(left) and YWCA Board Member Barbara Morgan
at the Bellevue Inspire Luncheon; 6. Inspired
Bellevue Luncheon guests.
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s u m m e r 2 011
phylicia rashad:
jane fonda:
mariel hemingway:
“People are much more alike than they could ever be different.”
“If women can learn to reclaim
their voice, and if we can help
our young girls not lose theirs,
this is the force for change.
We can lead the way.”
“Our power as individuals is huge and health
is everything, it is all
of who we are.”
2011 luncheons spotlight circle of support
from women of every generation
During the YWCA’s Seattle Inspire Luncheon
in April, Kathi Goertzen was joined onstage
with her mother Irma Goertzen and daughter
Andrea Jewett. The trio highlighted the
support network Kathi Goertzen has during
her most difficult moments.
Bellevue and Everett, accentuated the
importance of investing in opportunities for
women to secure our entire community’s
success. Self-sufficient women are better
providers for their families and contribute
more to the economy.
“So many women don’t have a safety net.
Luckily, I do,” Goertzen said. “My safety
net is here with me today.”
Through their generous donations, Inspire
Luncheon attendees ensured that the YWCA
will continue to offer the programs that
cultivate this cycle of self-sufficiency — and honor generations of supportive
women — today and well into the future.
The three generations sharing the stage
illustrate how we rely upon women of every
generation to sustain and grow a continuous
cycle of resiliency. The 2011 YWCA Inspire
Luncheons, which drew thousands of
supporters to our signature events in Seattle,
ywcaworks.org
For more about the Luncheons, visit
ywcaworks.org.
Stay tuned for YWCA
Inspire Luncheon 2012!
Next year’s Luncheons will be here
before you know it. Please contact us at
206.490.4378 or luncheon@ywcaworks.org
if you’d like us to keep you posted
about the 2012 Inspire Luncheon dates
and speakers.
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ALL EVENT SPONSORS
SIGNATURE
PREMIER
he support of our sponsors
T
is more crucial than ever.
Extraordinary times call for
extraordinary measures.
Thank you to these remarkable
companies for supporting
the YWCA and empowering
our community.
BENEFACTOR
For information on having
your company as a sponsor,
please contact: Rebecca
Ehrlichman at
rehrlichman@ywcaworks.org.
PJ Hummel & Company, Inc.
Event Design & Décor
VENUE SPONSORS
EASTSIDE
PATRON: Perkins Coie Charitable Foundation • Walsh Construction Co./WA SUPPORTING: The Container Store
• PepsiCo • Starbucks Coffee Company CONTRIBUTING: ARH and Associates, Inc. • Cabinets NW Corporation
• Executive MBA and Technology Management MBA Programs, UW Foster School of Business • GLY Construction, Inc.
• Group Health Cooperative • Merit Electric of Spokane, Inc. • PACCAR Inc • Port Blakely Communities • RailPro
• Sterling Realty Organization • Sunrise Plumbing, LLC • Synergy Construction, Inc. • Union Bank • United Systems
Mechanical, LLC • United Way of King County • University Book Store • Wells Fargo
SEATTLE
PATRON: Perkins Coie Charitable Foundation • SMR Architects • Starbucks Coffee Company • Swedish Medical
Center SUPPORTING: Executive MBA and Technology Management MBA Programs, UW Foster School of Business
• HomeStreet Bank • Puget Sound Business Journal • Seattle Children’s • Washington Partners, Inc. CONTRIBUTING:
BECU • Definitive Audio, Inc. • The Fairmont Olympic Hotel • Foster Pepper PLLC • Garvey Schubert Barer • GordonDerr
LLP • Green Diamond Resource Company • Group Health Cooperative • Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson P.S. • Intelius
• International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 751 • Kibble & Prentice, a USI Company
• Laird Norton Tyee • Plum Creek • Riddell Williams P.S. • Runde & Co. LLC • Russell Investments • Seattle Woman
Magazine • Seneca Group • Short Cressman & Burgess PLLC • Stewart Title • Stoel Rives LLP • Stokes Lawrence, P.S.
• Union Bank • United Way of King County • U.S. Bank • Vulcan Inc. • Wells Fargo
SNOHOMISH
PATRON: Banner Bank • Chermak Construction, Inc. • The Daily Herald • Fluke Corporation • Pacific Crest Savings
Bank SUPPORTING: Cascade Bank • Nintendo of America Inc. CONTRIBUTING: BECU • Group Health
Cooperative • Lexus of Seattle (in Lynnwood) • Providence Regional Medical Center • Sterling Realty Organization
• Union Bank • Wells Fargo
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s u m m e r 2 011
cover story continued
YWCA Lead Case Manager Paulette Payne helped Rials obtain
a Section 8 low-income-housing voucher, which otherwise would
have been difficult to get because of Rials’ criminal background.
And YWCA Housing Liaison Michael Anderson helped Rials find
a landlord willing to rent to her.
“In 2009, we were able to move out of the shelter and into a threebedroom, two-bathroom townhome,” Rials said. “It was wonderful.”
Rials was also able to connect to a host of YWCA programs that teach
financial and life skills. She eventually landed a job with a chocolate
factory, and life was going well.
“I had my house, I had my family, we had a savings and extra money
to go out and do things like see a movie every weekend,” she said.
But challenges still loomed for the single mother.
“I got over-confident,” she said, and stopped attending the Alcoholics
Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings that helped her
stay sober for some three years. Then the grandmother who had raised
Rials passed away, and her oldest son was arrested for armed robbery.
“Everything had me so stressed out,” Rials said, and last August,
she relapsed.
“I was living in motels, hustling, doing whatever I had to do to keep
a roof over my head” during the relapse, Rials said. Yet the reality
of how far she had come and all that she had lost reverberated through
her core.
“I felt so much shame and guilt and embarrassment of once again
failing,” she said. “I felt I should have been stronger than that.”
All the while she continued to hear from Payne, her YWCA case
manager. “Paulette would tell me, ‘Just come home, everything will
be OK,’” Rials said.
After two months, Rials did return home and again began recovery.
She continues to attend weekly support meetings and submits
to random drug testing to help ensure she remains sober.
Although she no longer qualified for her three-bedroom townhome
because her daughter moved away, Rials was able to find an apartment
in Kent, and today eyes a future with unlimited potential. Her
immediate goals include finding a job that fits around her son’s school
schedule and getting her GED. Eventually she hopes to attend
a school for culinary arts.
Through it all, she continues to rely on the support of Payne.
“If I’m stressed out, she’s one of the first people that I call,” Rials
explained. “She’s always able to relieve that tension and that stress,
and get my mind back on track. She’s like an angel; she’s like a part
of my family.”
Although still shaken by her relapse, Rials believes it actually helped
strengthen her resolve to remain sober and out of jail.
“I have my problems still, but there’s no problem that can make
me go back out there, because that is the most miserable place
to be,” she said. “Now I just work through my problems, I pick
up the phone, I call people. I journal, I keep in contact with my
caseworker. I’m reaching out.”
Rials graduates from Passage Point next year and feels confident
that the help she received from the YWCA programs will sustain her.
“I will use the tools that I have gained and I will always remember
where I have been and where I am now,” she said. “Nothing in the
world is worth losing all that I’ve accomplished.”
ywca joins
national stand
against racism
On April 29, YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish
participated in the national Stand Against
Racism, bringing together people from all
walks of life to raise awareness about racism.
Several YWCA locations recited the Stand
Against Racism pledge and participants
linked arms around the Fir Street Shelter
and recited the pledge. YWCA Opportunity
Place hosted a panel discussion on equity.
More than 70 YWCA offices and many other
groups throughout the country participated.
ywcaworks.org
For more information, please visit:
standagainstracism.org
Scenes from national Stand Against Racism.
Above: Panel discussion on equity held at YWCA
Opportunity Place. Right: YWCA’s Harmony
Hasbrook in the Stand Against Racism “photo booth”
at the YWCA Learning Center at Greenbridge
in South Seattle.
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Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
YWCA of Seattle | King County | Snohomish County
1118 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101
PAID
Seattle, Washington
Permit No. 660
The YWCA is supported by United
Way of King County and United Way
of Snohomish County.
go digital:
women’s university club awards
annual scholarship
then, Evans, 34, has worked with the YWCA
Family Self-Sufficiency Program to learn
skills to help boost her self-esteem and launch
her on a path of financial independence. She
underwent laser surgery to correct her vision
and joined a gym. She took a trial version
of the Seattle Police written exam and passed.
She learned to balance school with work
and family.
Check out the empowered news‑
letter online at ywcaworks.org and
see additional photos and articles
about these important YWCA people
and events:
• Volunteer spotlight: Bank of America.
• Dress for Success grand re-opening.
• A note of thanks from School
Days recipients.
• Quilts from the Heart for Passage Point.
View these and other
empowering videos:
• Scenes from our three Inspire Luncheons.
• Garfield High School cheerleaders
crashing the YWCA’s annual meeting.
• Moving story of Alise and other
Passage Point women.
• Hear from Women’s University Club
scholarship winner Queenie Evans.
Queenie Evans always dreamed of wearing
a police badge. But an abusive boyfriend and
others convinced her she didn’t have what
it would take to become an officer. She wasn’t
smart enough. She wasn’t physically fit.
She wore thick glasses. She had two young
children to raise.
A coworker put her in touch with a Seattle
Police sergeant, who helped Evans believe
that she could overcome her obstacles. Since
Add our facebook page: facebook.com/ywcaseattle
“It’s a struggle. Full-time work, full-time
school, full-time mom, full-time with my
church, too,” Evans said, “But now I know
I can do it.”
Evans is pursuing a bachelor’s degree
in criminal justice and plans on becoming
a domestic violence detective. The recent
scholarship awarded by the Women’s
University Club of Seattle Foundation will
help pay for part of Evans’ education.
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