YMCA - Brianna Berner

 

 

 

           Sept. 2: No meeting. Labor Day Holiday.

 

           Sept. 9: Noon meeting at the Bark. Speaker: Carmela Conroy, 5^th District congressional candidate.

 

 

           Club activities chair Laura Zahn said upcoming events:

 

                Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 3 to 7 p.m.: Community table at Fairwood Farmers’ Market. Fundraiser for Mobius science kits for Holmes 3^rd and 5^th graders.  Two            shifts planned during the market hours.

 

               Saturday, Sept. 28, 8:30 a.m. to Noon: Habitat for Humanity build in Deer Park.  The club wants to fill 20 slots, so friends are invited.

   

               Saturday, Oct. 12, 2 p.m., Free Rein tour in Spokane Valley.

 

 

          Calgary Calling: As the September edition of the Rotary Magazine notes, the 2025 Rotary International Convention is scheduled June 21-25.  This may be the closest big RI gathering to our district in many years.  Discount registration continues to Dec. 15 and convention rooms near the venues are filling fast.  Some area members are discussing about possible van or bus travel to Calgary, which is about 500 miles from Spokane.

 

          Club President Nancy Hanson said next month’s board meeting will be Sept. 25, a week later than scheduled.

 

 

          Bill Simer was happy that Sgt.-at-Arms Laura Zahn brought grapes and an unusually large cucumber to share at the meeting. But Bill asked “if next time can we have tomatoes?” 

 

          Eric Johnson was happy that his third-placed ticket for the weekly drawing got some of the grapes.

 

          Lenore Romney was $5 happy to have her mom, Paula, at the meeting for a visit from New Jersey.

 

          Sheila Fritz was happy to introduce new member Amy Jo Carlson.

 

  

          At the Aug. 26 meeting, Amy Jo Carlson was formally installed as the club’s newest member.  She is owner-broker of Amy Jo Carlson Insurance, specializing in Medicare health coverage.  An active outdoorswoman, she is an avid fly fisher.

 

 

 

     

          Through its long history, the YMCA Spokane has moved several times and reinvented the organization often.

 

          At the club’s Aug. 26 meeting, Briana Berner, YWCA Spokane donor relations coordinator, outlined the “YW’s” programs and challenges.

         The YWCA topic followed a series of club meetings on women and family issues, including JOYA, the Northeast Community Center and Transitions.

 

         The YWCA, Berner said, “is the oldest and largest women’s group in the world.”

 

         She said the Young Women’s Christian Association of Spokane was started in 1903 by a group of 90 women and a $200 donation from philanthropist John A.

Finch.  The group met in four rented rooms at the Symons Building downtown.

 

         In 1926 the organization said church affiliation was not required, but it was only in 2016 that the official name changed to YWCA Spokane.

 

         In 1937 the YWCA moved to a building at Main and Monroe which had a gym and pool.  In 1940, with a gift of land at Spirit Lake, Camp Glen Echo was opened.

 

        After construction of its building at Lincoln and Broadway, in 2005 the YWCA joined with the YMCA to build the new building at 930 N. Monroe.  It marked the first time in the nation that both organizations had a co-location.

 

        For the YWCA, the services have grown and changed as much as the facilities.

 

        Berner said the list includes domestic violence support advocacy, safe shelter, a pre-school program, housing, legal support, clothing, career skills and life skills.

 

        She said in 1979 programs were expanded to deal with domestic violence, which she said can touch as many as one in 10 women in Spokane County.  “The rate of women violence here is the highest in Washington,” she said.

 

        Shelter and a 24-hour Helpline are available and the YWCA has 14 rooms for survivors, family and pets, Berner said.  “Some women wouldn’t come if they couldn’t bring their pets,” she said.

 

        Berner said therapists are trained in dealing with violence and she added that “of those we work who have PTST, 70 percent leave without the disease.  We are proud of that.”

 

        A Transformation Camp for women of color has been organized, and so has a program for “marginalized” women, she said.

 

        Clothing and hygiene products can be donated Tuesdays for “Our Sisters Closet.”

 

        Computer labs and classes on writing help career skills, Berne said.

 

        Coming full circle, it was in London in 1850 that typing skills were among the first programs provided for that YWCA.

 

        The local and international YWCAs focus remain: “eliminating racism and empowering people.”