Some things in life, like a favorable roll of the dice or winning the lottery, are simply a matter of luck. Others require hard work and dedication. San Diego’s YWCA, now a robust 90-year-old, is a prime example of the latter. The product of remarkable vision, keen planning and diligent leadership, this venerable San Diego institution has touched hundreds of thousands of lives in all points of the county, and, in the process, become a legend in its own time.

    The legend began in the early 1900s, when a small band of women led by two very different but equally dedicated women - Rose Davidson and Dr. Charlotte Baker - joined forces to establish a local branch of the mother organization founded in England in 1855.

    References to Baker's YWCA organizational work are documented in a short history of the San Diego YWCA, written in 1982 by then board member Clare Crane. One day's entry in Baker's journal in 1907, Crane points out, read as follows: "Called to hospital at 10 p.m. Baby born 1 a.m. Called from hospital to Susie Woods; her baby born at 5 a.m. YWCA executive committee met at office."

    Since then, hundreds of other women from all walks of life have worked to nurture and shape San Diego’s YW into an institution that has accomplished milestone after milestone, growing and changing with the times, yet always with the original mission very much in mind.

    "Our mission then, now, and always will be the empowerment of women and the elimination of racism," says Executive Director Janie Davis, who led the YWCA in Fort Wayne, Ind. for four years before coming to San Diego in the spring of 1989. "Our vision may change from city to city, but that mission is very much a part of all YWs."

The Formative Years

    In the organization's formative years, political reform, suffrage, better labor conditions and consumer protection were major concerns. "From the very beginning," wrote Margaret O'Connell, executive director from 1921 to 1938, "the physical well-being of girls, the need of protection, of work which would pay a living wage, of well-cooked food and a home-like place to live were in the minds of the board of directors." Within the first few years of its formation, the San Diego YW had established the first physical fitness classes for women, the first adult education classes, the first travelers' aid service, the first camping program for girls, the first employment bureau and the city's first cafeteria.

    During the 1930s, many new programs were initiated in Southeast San Diego with an emphasis on improving race relations. Then, because of the need to provide recreation for defense workers and servicemen during the war years, the YW became virtually coeducational, with the initiation of dances, swimming and other recreational activities. And the post-war era saw the beginnings of the Girl Reserves, known today as the Y-Teens.

Serving Young & Old

    Jean Mierlot, who joined the YW in the 1930s - while in the fifth grade - and remains a member and staunch supporter, was one of those early Girl Reserves. She later became an employee, then a board member, and is now a volunteer, working in development and on the YW's archives. "I’m very committed to the mission of the YWCA," she says. "The YW has been a leader in reaching out to women and girls across economic and social classes and offering them opportunities."

    Twenty-two-year-old Martha Rañon of San Ysidro is a classic example of this outreach - and its impact. Like Mierlot, Rañon became involved with the YW at a young age through its youth leadership program. She considers the association a turning point in her life. "The Y opened my eyes to the fact that you can rise above the gangs and drugs and violence that may surround you," she explains. Because of being in the YW and joining its youth leadership program, Rañon had the opportunity to go to Atlanta for a national convention and later to Russia for a peace educator's program.

    The YW also motivated her to go to college, Rañon says. She graduated from USD last month with a degree in international relations and takes her place on the YWCA board next month. "I’ll be the youngest one there," she notes. Her goals are bringing the opinion of people her age to the board and addressing relevant issues teens face, such as the pursuit of education. "I'd like to establish field trips to colleges so they can see what’s out there and have the same opportunities I did," Rañon says.

    Rañon is, by no means, an exception to the rule. An amazing 85 to 90 percent of teens participating in the leadership part of the YW's Leadership and Advocacy programs - which provide, through teen centers, academic assistance, career guidance and practical training in life skills such as finance, social issues and conflict management - have enrolled in college, Davis notes.

    The YW plans to expand the Leadership and Advocacy Division, currently the smallest and newest, in the years to come. "We know that if we can continue to focus on a woman's ability to find and use her voice, that the YW will play a big part in increasing either her role, her status or her influence in her family, in her workplace or her community," Davis says. "It’s a matter of empowering her to choose wisely."

    While traditionally strong, the breadth of the YW's outreach has increased dramatically in recent years. The Child Development Division, which provides child care for preschool as well as school-age children - has refocused programming to become more proactive and collaborative. Its efforts are based on prevention as well as intervention in an effort to short-circuit problems faced by its primarily poor, single-parent and frequently minority families. "It’s our second-largest division," Davis notes.

Dealing With Violence

    The largest, and fastest growing, is the Division of Domestic Violence Services. Established in 1978 with the creation of the first shelter in San Diego, it now comprises about half of the YW's current $2.8 million annual budget. Programs include a treatment program for batterers as well as counseling services, support groups, legal advocacy - providing free legal services to more than 2,000 women a year - and Passages, a four-stage program of long-term residency and support services designed to assist women victims of domestic violence as well as women with a past history of substance abuse and highly motivated homeless women.

    In addition, the YW now has two 24-hour domestic violence hotlines. "One has been in existence for a long time; we receive as many as 8,000 calls a year on that line," Davis notes. The other, a new 888 number (1-888-305-SAFE) linking shelters county-wide, was established in partnership with the San Diego Police Department. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, it is only a few months old and already has processed hundreds of calls.

    Through the 888 hotline, officers in the field are able to find services for domestic violence victims. The partnership between the YW and the police department is unprecedented, says City Attorney Casey Gwinn, and establishes San Diego as "one of the few jurisdictions in the country with a computer database to determine the availability of shelter beds all over the county."

    Gwinn, who became involved with the YW's work in domestic violence when he first went to work in San Diego as a city prosecutor during the mid-1980s, says the YW has played a dramatic role in reducing domestic violence homicides in the last 10 years - "almost a 70 percent drop since we started our coordinated community response strategy in 1986," he notes.

Effective Intervention

    "The YW very much has gone from being a shelter for battered women to being a very effective intervention force in the community," Gwinn adds. "The work now being done in the YW's Domestic Violence Research Institute is probably the most sophisticated intervention work being done anywhere in the country, as far as what works and what doesn’t."

    Davis believes the institute, which was established in 1995 through funding from a state demonstration grant, will be nationwide in the not-too-distant future. Institute staff work with health organizations, employers, the police, therapists and others, "trying to land on the latest research about domestic violence so the client is better served," Davis says.

    The institute and the 888 hotline are examples of Davis's efforts to successfully network with a diverse group of community leaders, notes YWCA board member Collette Murray, CEO of Sharp HealthCare Foundation. Board President Vicky Pion credits Davis with both expanding and stabilizing important YW programs as well as turning the management and operation of the YW around 180 degrees. "Now we have to stabilize our funding so we aren’t operating almost in a crisis mode," Pion adds.

    While funding comes from a variety of sources, including the federal and state governments, corporate and foundation grants, individual gifts, program fees and fund-raising activities, it’s insufficient to meet current program and operating expenses. To make ends meet, the YW started a crash $750,000 fund-raising effort in January and finds itself $100,000 short with the June 30 fiscal year close looming.

    Part of the shortfall in this year’s $2.8 million budget is a result of adding and expanding programs; part a result of needing to fill the gap created when government funds and revenues supplied by United Way of San Diego dropped. United Way, which has supplied from 35 to 40 percent of the YW's annual budget in years past, now contributes less than 10 percent. (The drop is a reflection of the tough times facing United Way. The YW remains among its top-funded agencies.)

With Strings Attached

    In addition to coping with reduced revenues, the YW also faces the challenge presented by "restricted use" donations, which come with strings attached - earmarked for a specific program or project. Last year donations of this type totaled 64 percent of the total received.

    "Organizations today are very challenged by this issue because we have to be true to the donor. But we also have to raise money to operate and that, of course, is unrestricted money," Davis says. "That's why we do events and have special projects." Two of its highest-profile efforts are the "Women's Business Directory and Resource Guide," a networking and referral tool the YW has just published for the second year, and TWIN, the YW's largest, and San Diego’s oldest and most prestigious, event fund-raiser.

    Now in its 18th year, TWIN is an acronym for Tribute to Women & Industry. As of this month, it has honored nearly 1,600 women for their achievements in managerial, executive and professional roles, and raised more than a million dollars to fund YWCA programs and services. Many of those women, Davis says, are now giving back to the YWCA. Most recently, a group of former TWIN honorees from Solar Turbines obtained corporate seed money from the Caterpillar Foundation and helped develop a business plan to open a second My Sister's Closet resale clothing store last month on Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest.

    Unlike the original My Sister's Closet, created in 1985 primarily to clothe the battered and homeless women the YW sheltered, the new store is being run like a business and ultimately is expected to provide a fresh revenue stream. "I can’t think of a situation that exemplifies more of a win-win for the community than this," Davis says. "I can’t think of anything that highlights more what this country needs, this city needs, this agency needs. The collective skills of these generous and talented women have not only given us a challenge we can rise to but brought us a new way to bring sustaining revenues into our organization."

Leaning On Volunteers

    Another way the YW fills the funding gap is through volunteers. "With the limited budget we have, we’re finding out how wonderful volunteers and interns can be in the course of the day," Davis says appreciatively. "The Fifth Avenue store would not be open today if it were not for volunteers."

    To augment the YW's paid staff in the coming year, Davis hopes to double the number of volunteers, which currently stands at around 150. She considers it a matter of survival, a way to run and even bolster programs without impacting current staff. (Due to downsizing, paid employees now number 130, which is fewer than when Davis arrived.)

    "Volunteering is the most meaningful thing someone can do and we need the help," Davis says. "To volunteer your time or to give a dollar or $100,000; whatever it is, this organization and this community will only get stronger because of it. It is critical work and it is a gift to the volunteer as much as anything."

    Davis believes the YW will continue to use its four basic values - innovation, teamwork, excellence and justice - to play an even broader role in modeling what the community will be in the years ahead. "I think if we do all the work that we do and there is a sense of justice, and it’s apparent that we’re leading with everyone in mind, the YWCA can only flourish. I believe the strength will only increase," she notes. "I think the teachings we’re going to do in Child Development and in Leadership and Advocacy are based on what we’ve done for years and years and years in the trenches. We know so much, now it’s time for us to work on prevention and to put more energy into that piece of it.

    "But above all, what we can and must do," she adds, "is help women use their voice to be the best leader they can be. That mission is threaded through everything we do."

Chris Abe

Children's Hospital

Irma Avalos

Honeywell, West Coast Operations

Bertha Aviles

Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program

Cynthia Bashant

United States Attorney's Office

Patricia Bell

Bank of America

Jody Betry

San Diego Data Processing Corp.

Mikel Bistrow

Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP

Yoshi Bogart

Kyocera International Inc.

Julie Brennan

McGladrey & Pullen LLP

Jill Bricnet

Hotel del Coronado

Kimberly Castillo

Deloitte & Touche LLP

Cyrillene Clark

City of San Diego

Anne Cloughley

Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical

Loreen Collins

Mycogen Corp.

Carol Conner

County of San Diego

Nancy Conyers

Johnson & Higgins

Sharon Corrigan

Better Business Bureau

Alva Diaz

Wells Fargo Bank

Patricia Dunlap

A Nite on the Town Inc.

Joni Enders

JCPenney Company

Marla Farrage

Rohr Inc.

Lisa Faulk

Advanta Mortgage Corp.

Elizabeth Felchlin

GDE Systems Inc.

Kathy Fultz

Sundstrand Power Systems

Debbie Garnica

San Diego Concourse

Linda Goodwill

HOPE CDC

Nancy Green

John Burnham & Co.

Claudia Hansen

Chemtronics Inc.

Sylvia Harrison

Service America Corp.

Kathleen Hedges

SAIC

Dianna Hempen

U.S. Postal Service

Laurel Herbst

San Diego Hospice

Dee Herstedt

San Diego Housing Commission

Martha Hough

Gensia Sicor Inc.

Darlene Johnson

Signal Processing Systems

Peggy Johnson

Qualcomm Inc.

Ruth Jones

Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp.

Anke Kamrath

San Diego Supercomputer Center

Kathryn Karcher

Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich

Cinda Kemper

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

Susan Kirkpatrick

UCSD

June Komar

ScrippsHealth

Cheryl Kroll

Pacific Bell

Jayne Lanham

Sundstrand Power Systems

Paulette Leahy

Union Bank of California

Cindy Lehman

Grossmont Bank

Michelle Long

Cubic Defense Systems Inc.

Judy Mantle

National University

Vicki Markey

San Diego County Probation Department

Penny Martin

NBC 7/39

Donna Mills

Sharp HealthCare

Shanna Missett

Jazzercise Inc.

Kathleen Moser

San Diego County Department
of Health Services

Sara Muller

Stoorza, Ziegaus & Metzger Inc.

Carol Mundell

Sunrise Management Company

Kari Nilsen

GDE Systems Inc.

Sandra Palandri

ComStream Corp.

Janet Patterson

Space Electronics Inc.

Ruth Pershkoff

San Diego Unified School District

Deanna Petersen

The Titan Corp.

Alma Pirazzini

Sweetwater Union High School District

Kellie Potter

Quidel Corp.

Nancy Pulley

Peninsula Bank of San Diego

Virginia Renehan

Zoological Society of San Diego

Elizabeth Rice

Kyocera America Inc.

Wai-Lean Roos

SAIC

Karen Ross

Ross Transportation Services

Lorna Scerri

Frazee Industries Inc.

Karol Schoen

Barona Casino

Deborah Schuff

June's Attorney Service

Cláudia Schwartz

Scripps Clinic

Marilyn Schwartz

Ogden Environmental & Energy Services Co. Inc.

Karil Skrukrud

SAIC

DeeAnne Snyder

San Diego Convention Center Corp.

Barbara Stanley

Solar Turbines Inc.

Bobbie Stephenson

RECON

Cissy Tan

Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program

Allison Tarter

Hughes Network Systems

Rhonda Thompson

Thorsnes, Bartolotta, McGuire & Padilla

Patty Trinkle

Quidel Corp.

Linda Vaughan

Foodmaker Inc.

Jacqueline Vines

Cox Communications

Anne Marie Vitale

Price Waterhouse LLP

Nancy Wallace

Cubic Automatic Revenue Collection Group

Bettye Washington

General Atomics

Renée Wasmund

San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board

Bridget Cantu Wear

Old Globe Theatre

Jane Wiens

SDG&E

Barbara Williams

Sundstrand Power Systems

Judith Williams

Vista Hill Foundation

Kathy Ybarrondo

Barney & Barney

Sharon Yessen

Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

1907 YWCA of San Diego is founded by

Dr. Charlotte Baker and opens at 540 Sixth Ave.

1908 Formal incorporation takes place with 11 directors. New facilities are dedicated at Seventh Avenue and Broadway. The YW opens the city's first cafeteria and first employment bureau.

1910 The first Travelers Aid Office opens.

1912 The first leadership development programs are initiated for 12-18-year-old girls.

1917 The YW is "recruited" by the government to provide aid to servicemen and their families.

1920s Business and Professional Women's Clubs are established.

1927 The YW moves into its permanent home at the corner of Tenth Avenue and C Street.

1930s South Center and Clay Avenue Branch open.

New outreach programs are initiated to improve race relations.

1940s Recreation facilities are provided for defense workers as well as servicemen and women.

1956-'60s Three new sites open: East Center, North Center and Y-Teens in San Ysidro.

1968 Mothers Project is initiated for minority women.

1978 Battered Women's Services, the first comprehensive domestic violence program, is established.

First All Women Run (L'Eggs) takes place.

1980 The first TWIN luncheon is held.

1983 Creative Visitation Program is initiated for non-custodial parents.

1985 First emergency night shelter for 50 women opens.

My Sister's Closet resale shop opens to clothe battered and homeless women.

1989 San Diego Domestic Violence Task Force is co-founded.

1990 School district's classroom for children opens in domestic violence shelter.

1993 First on-site Temporary Restraining Order Clinic opens.

1994 Passages, a residential program for battered and homeless women, begins. Domestic Violence Education and Prevention Program is introduced in schools. Teen Leadership Center is formed in San Ysidro.

1995 Domestic Violence Research and Training Institute is established.

1996 The first YWCA "San Diego Women's Business Directory and Resource Guide" is published.

1997 The first toll-free Domestic Violence hotline is established. My Sister's Closet expands to a second site in Hillcrest Womens' Leadership Development Series begins. Women's Information Exchange is created.