By Sara Poirier Correa
Sentinel Business Reporter
Through nearly 100 years of striving to empower women and eliminate racism—the core of YWCA Greenwich’s mission—the organization has become “a treasured community asset,” according to Adrianne Singer, its president and CEO.
Offering more than 125 programs and services, including domestic abuse services, the YWCA continues to serve all of the Greenwich population, men, women and children, ranging from six months old to seniors.
“The mission of the YWCA, to eliminate racism and empower women, are two things that I’m very passionate about,” Singer said, adding recent headlines keep the topic on people’s minds.
“I think it’s really good that things have been brought up to the surface,” she said.
Singer, who has lived in town for a number of years and whose children learned to swim at the YWCA, first became involved with the organization’s management as a member of its board of directors. A former IBM executive for more than two decades, as well as a town employee during the early 2000s, Singer has been in her current position for the past 12 years.
A History
Globally, the YWCA—which stands for Young Women’s Christian Association—began in 1855 in London, England. The movement came to the United States in 1858, and the first boarding house for female students, teachers and factory workers opened in New York City in 1860.
According to the local organization’s website, ywcagreenwich.org, in the 1870s, the YWCA held the first typewriting classes for women—formerly recognized as a man’s occupation—and opened the first employment center. In the following years, it opened more doors for women, including hosting the first interracial conference in the South and convening the first meeting of women doctors, with attendees from 32 countries.
The YWCA Greenwich opened its doors in 1919, the website said, at the former Greenwich Hospital building at the corner of Milbank Avenue and Lewis Street, now condominiums. It initially was a residence for women, and early programs offered, the site said, included sewing, cooking, auto mechanics and electrical repair.
The current facility at 259 East Putnam, which includes a new fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, according to Singer, as well as the only water playground in town, opened in 1970.
For all ages
From ballet to basketball, tennis to badminton, gymnastics to soccer, to the nationally ranked Dolphins Swim Team, the YWCA programming is geared towards children and adults to get them moving and motivated, Singer said.
“[Exercise and activity] are important to one’s health and well-being,” she added.
There are power spin classes, personal trainers, baseball and softball cages, and even sauna and steam rooms.
In addition to the preschool programming offering swim instruction, use of the gymnasium, Spanish instruction and music, the Kaleidoscope after-school program is designed to “entertain and educate.” Classes introducing the principles of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are offered, including Cool Kids Chemistry—a class hosted by a Greenwich High School teacher and taught by high school students—as well as training in scientific methods and probability using Minecraft at Zaniac, a game-based learning center on West Putnam Avenue.
“We do [these programs] so the girls learn about science, technology and math and become interested in it at an early age,” Singer said.
A new partnership with LIM College in New York City—a four-year fashion education institution—will allow a select group of high schoolers to visit the school for a week this summer. During what Singer called the “fashion lab,” students will attend classes and lectures, and go on field trips, all while learning hands-on about the business of fashion and fashion buying.
“We look for new partnerships all the time,” Singer said, adding that new opportunities are always coming about. “If we all work together, then you see a lot of progress in every area.”
She said the programs at the YWCA are aimed to teach kids, especially young girls, about “self-confidence, time management, team building and having a wonderful time.”
“We want to keep [kids] healthy and give them life skills,” Singer said.
Honoring Women
The annual BRAVA Awards and the Spirit of Greenwich Awards are two ways that the YWCA recognizes empowered local women, Singer said. Proceeds from both events go to support the organization’s programs.
BRAVA, which this year will take place Feb. 5 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, celebrates women in their professional careers who also volunteer their time to help others. This year’s honorees include Paola Garelick of Garelick & Herbs and Dr. Felice Zwas of Greenwich Hospital, among others.
The Spirit awards honor women volunteers whose “vision, devotion, accomplishments and in-depth service over a period of years have enriched the lives of many in the community… women who truly are the ‘Spirit of Greenwich’,” the YWCA website said. This year’s celebration, for which nominees are accepted from the public, will take place sometime in September.
Domestic Violence Services
Since 1981, the YWCA has been involved with treating victims of domestic violence in town with free services.
“Our goal is to save lives,” Singer said. “We empower the women who are the victims.”
Services provided include individual and group counseling, finding shelter for victims, providing a court advocate at Stamford Superior Court, teaching about the dangers of domestic violence through community outreach, as well as having a 24-7, free and confidential hotline for victims and those concerned about potential victims.
“Domestic violence is physical, psychological, financial… it’s about control,” Singer said, adding that it affects one in four women at some point in their lifetime.
“It’s very important to help people that need help,” she added.
YNet, a club at Greenwich High School, is also sponsored by the YWCA and provides peer-to-peer education to prevent domestic violence, including dating violence.
The YWCA’s annual Old Bags Luncheon, which will celebrate 11 years in 2016, is a fund-raiser from which proceeds go to domestic abuse services. This year’s event, which is almost sold out, will be held Thursday, May 12.
“There’s a lot of work to be done and that’s what we do here,” Singer said of the YWCA’s efforts to help victims of abuse. “Our goal is to teach the next generation that violence is wrong in addition to keeping people safe who are domestic violence victims, and to help them regain their lives.”
For information about programming and membership, visit the website or call 869-6501.
To nominate a woman in the community for a Spirit of Greenwich award, contact Aubrey Grodin at a.grodin@ywcagreenwich.org.
The domestic abuse services hotline is 203-622-0003.
