Adding men to the YWCA board - Southwest Community Bank’s Fred Baranowski is one of the first four - is integral to the organization expanding its reach, says Roberta Spoon, board chairwoman. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Battered moms. Homeless children. Unemployed dads. Addicted women. They are all problems in San Diego, but they have something else in common: the YWCA.

Wait, the place known for its big swimming pool and ladies’ gym is sheltering families, even men? And helping women get off drugs and alcohol? Providing free legal and medical assistance?

“Our mission changed in the 1980s and we began serving women in crisis,” says Roberta Spoon, YWCA board chairwoman. “Now, the YWCA has the largest domestic violence shelter and transitional services provider in the Centre City.”

Although the YWCA’s national mission statement is “eliminating racism, empowering women,” the local group chose to narrow the charge to “giving life-changing opportunities to women and families.” Included in those families are men, which often comes as a surprise to people, says Spoon.

“We want to help the entire family,” she emphasizes, “and that means men, women and children. We are trying to change the perception that these aren’t just ‘women’s issues’ but family issues.”

As a part of that effort to include a male perspective, the 22-member board now includes its first complement of men, including Fred Baranowski, former CEO of San Diego’s United Way and now an executive vice president at Southwest Community Bank.

“The homeless situation is still one in flux, in Downtown especially,” says Baranowski, one of the board’s four men. “And the YWCA does so much work with families and homeless. I am proud to be on this board and it shows that it’s not just focused on women.”

The YWCA’s identity as an exclusively women’s resource is partially due to the exposure of Becky’s House, founded when Becky, a domestic violence victim, called in to the “Jeff and Jer” radio show looking for help. A joint effort between the radio program, the city and the YWCA produced the 10-unit, 40-bed facility.

“The biggest shortage in San Diego is the piece after women leave the emergency shelter and need a more permanent housing situation,” says Spoon. “Generally speaking, domestic violence victims have been isolated from friends and family. So their choice is to go back home or become homeless.”

Instead, Becky’s House — a first of its kind in San Diego — provides each woman (and her children) with a cozy town home for 18 months. The YWCA’s support services then help the women file legal documents, learn new skills and find permanent housing to improve their lives. Spoon describes it as “a continuum of care.”

Becky’s House has been such a success, the YWCA will open Becky’s House II, a $5 million project, this fall with an additional 14 units and 55 beds. “We hope we will have occupancy by October,” says Spoon.

In addition to Becky’s House, the YWCA also operates a round-the-clock emergency safe house for domestic violence victims and their children. This 30-day residency includes intensive counseling and other critical services.

Less known but just as vital are two programs that seek to fight San Diego’s homelessness crisis. The first, Passages, is a 24-month residency program that guides women, many of whom are alcohol- or drug-dependent, away from addictions and into long-term jobs and housing.

“Passages is the first homeless program specifically for women in San Diego,” says Spoon. “We have seen tremendous success with it.”

A second effort to combat homelessness, Cortez Hill Family Center, offers three-month homes to families — including men.

“More and more intact families today are homeless, usually by no fault of their own,” says Spoon. “The face of homelessness is not necessarily what you see when you walk through Downtown streets. It is husbands, wives and children. In the 1980s, the average age of a homeless person was around 40. Today it is 9.”

About half of the funding for the YWCA’s outreach programs comes from government grants, but the rest must be raised privately through corporations or individuals.

“Funding is always the biggest challenge,” says Spoon. “We have an increased demand (for services) and yet shrinking funding.”

To advance that cause in San Diego, the YWCA last year hired Edith Glassey as chief development officer. Glassey previously was director of development at Mama’s Kitchen.

“A lot of people who went through the programs and services here before the focus changed to domestic violence think we don’t exist anymore because we don’t have those programs,” she says. “I hope to re-engage and reacquaint the community with the YWCA.”

The TWIN event, she says, is a good example of that untapped potential. “We are in such an enviable position for a nonprofit to have our foot in the door with those companies,” she says. “We need to put together relationship-building programs to keep those businesses engaged.”

The YWCA’s 100th anniversary next year will offer many opportunities to see the organization in action and celebrate its history. Although the full slate is still in planning, Spoon says she envisions several events, including a gala, a tribute with archival papers and photos at the SDSU library, a fund-raising walk called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” that will feature men racing in women’s high heels and smaller gatherings in the Gaslamp Quarter building that housed the original YWCA before the 10th and C facility opened in the 1920s.

“We have a lot of women in town who actually lived at a YWCA years ago,” says Spoon, citing CCDC president Nancy Graham as one. “You have to remember, years ago it was not appropriate for women traveling to stay alone so they stayed (at the YWCA). Then during World War II the YWCA supported military families by allowing wives and girlfriends of the servicemen to live (there).”

Spoon says women who lived or socialized at the YWCA often approach her. “It’s sweet as can be to hear people say they lived (there) and hear their stories,” she says. She notes former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor was on the YWCA’s synchronized swim team. “These same women have effected change in San Diego over all these years.”

Although over time it became more acceptable for women to travel, swim and exercise in mixed-sex groups, housing and health are still the YWCA’s main priorities.

“We have to thank the community,” says Spoon. “We often have these families (in need) with us for just a short time, but what a difference we can make for them. They are thankful for everything we do, and we certainly couldn’t do it without the donations of time and money we get from everyone in San Diego.”