YWCA marks in Duluth

In its early years, Duluth’s YWCA provided safety for immigrant women traveling from New York to the Midwest. A number of women, mostly Eastern Europeans, were disappearing in their journeys. YWCA members became part of a Traveler’s Aid, meeting are oppressed — although today that oppression is more likely because of racial or alternative gender identities and extreme levels of poverty. And in the current political climate, immigration is once again at the forefront.

A legacy of advancing women and immigrants

For a century, the YWCA was highly visible with its residence building at 202 W. 2nd St. in downtown Duluth. The building provided rooms for young working women, a lunchroom, a pool and fitness area, and meeting rooms. Initial classes were taught in typing, bookkeeping and domestic service.

Over the years, the services the YWCA offered changed to meet the needs — preparing women for stepped-up employment during two world wars; offering counseling on marriage, domestic life and child rearing; advocating for better wages and social security for women; creating programs for teenage girls, older women and single moms. Drop-in child care, summer day camps, after-school programs, and advocacy and education on women’s health issues would come later.

the trains — an average of 700 a month — arriving at the Depot. They helped the women find housing, connect with their families, and learn English and skills that would prepare them for jobs.

As the YWCA marks its 125th year in Duluth, program directors find they still have the same general mission to help women (and children) who

“Some of the same things that formed our organization years ago, are still being addressed,” said Shawnu Ksicinski, the YWCA’s board president.

“Now we’re going back to a very us-and-them mentality,” said Danielle Norkunas, the YWCA’s administrative director.

In addition to continually advancing women’s well-being, Duluth’s YWCA members also worked on advancing cultural understanding. They created the long-running Duluth International Folk Festival and continued to welcome and educate immigrant families. They worked to establish a Human Rights Commission.

The YWCA works on several levels, Ksicinski explained, citing recent efforts to dismantle racial and gender disparities in community institutions such as schools and law enforcement, to advocate a policy that would require local employers to provide paid sick time to their workers, to provide direct services like high-quality child care that’s accessible to low-income families. Its work is centered on eliminating racism and empowering women, she said.

The YWCA closed and sold its downtown residence building in 2008, moving its administrative offices into Duluth’s Building for Women. Direct services are provided in neighborhoods across Duluth.

Supportive housing and child care

The YWCA runs a supportive housing program in West Duluth’s Spirit Valley for young mothers, ages 16 to 21, and their infants, providing seven apartments along with 24-hour staffing, personal advocacy and programs that include parenting classes, life skills, money management, self-esteem enhancement and homework assistance. Mothers are required to be in school or working.

Teen mothers are more vulnerable to sex trafficking, said Karen TeHennepe, the YWCA’s finance director. People don’t understand that they may be forced to do something to have a couch to sleep on, to secure a meal for their kids, or to get a bill paid.

Adjacent is the YWCA’s Early Childhood Center, a “four-star Parent Aware” rated center licensed for 54 children that offers an early literacy curriculum and anti-bias approach to teaching to primarily low-income families.

“We always have a waiting list for the child care center and housing,” TeHennepe said.

Making future women leaders

Annually, 250 to 300 girls ages 8 to 14 participate in the YWCA’s Girl Power, educational programming offered at local schools, community drop-in sites and an 8-week summer camp that’s designed to empower girls. The programming includes leadership development, self-esteem building, healthy decision-making, economic literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities, race and gender justice activities, media literacy, community action projects and academic support. This past year, the girls met with Duluth Mayor Emily

Larson and the Glensheen gardener, among other female professionals, held a bake sale to benefit the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, and participated in a racial justice campaign.

Another 32 girls in 2018 are matched one-on-one with positive adult role models through the YWCA’s collaboration with the Mentor Duluth program that hopes to create lasting friendships and support for youth.

“Having a family know their kid is in a safe place is huge,” said Portia Shadd, the YWCA’s director of external programming.

Making connections

In the safe spaces and programs the YWCA has provided, directors point to the relationships that are being created with families who are being left behind or forgotten. Voice is given to issues such as bullying or the unfairness of a child being kicked off a bus when that child was defending another. And action is taken to reduce school suspensions and increase graduation rates for children of color or alternate genders.

“We are creating an equitable society where everybody has the tools they need,” Norkunas said.

Honoring women

Betty Brasgala, an avid runner, founded the YWCA’s annual Mother’s Day Walk/Run more than 30 years ago. You didn’t see a lot of women in the big races, so she planned a 5K “to get women off the sidelines,” TeHennepe said. Brasgala later was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the annual run since has taken on a women’s health focus. More than 300 runners participated in 2017.

Each year the YWCA accepts nominations for its Women of Distinction Awards, celebrating women in the Twin Ports area who play substantial roles in supporting families, women and people of color. Nominations occur in August, and awards are made in October. D

Andrea Novel Buck, a professional journalist for 25 years, is a Duluth freelance writer and Youth Education Director at Temple Israel.

To support the YWCA and its programs, you can become a member, donate money, volunteer or donate any of the items on the organization’s wish list. Go to www.ywcaduluth.org/getinvolved/.

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