Blogs

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we are spotlighting not only how we support participants’ mental health, but also that of our staff. It’s extremely important for both youth and adults to have access to the resources and skills needed to maintain positive mental health. By now, many of you may be familiar with the scary-but-true […]

April is Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness month – two areas of trauma that affect participants we serve locally and youth across the country. While we can’t always prevent all abuse from happening, we can provide necessary skills to recognize warning signs, interrupt generational trauma, and empower healthy relationships. As we address how […]

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. This can be a difficult topic to learn about, but it’s important to understand the cultural landscape youth are navigating and how we can help guide them in healthy decision making and self-advocacy. What is considered “dating violence”? Dating violence is more than just physical violence; it can […]

Trigger warning: mentions of domestic, sexual, and dating violence, bullying, suicide, and mental health struggles. The month of October is dedicated to bringing awareness to several important issues YWRC participants and youth in our community face: domestic violence, bullying, and mental health. For this spotlight, we are sharing how our work responds to several challenges […]

Empowering clients to self-advocate is a key part of being a YWRC doula. Working on birth plans, providing information about their rights during birth, and talking through options with clients are ways we help them prepare for conversations with healthcare providers. As part of Black Maternal Health Week, our doulas wanted to share a few […]

This month we are excited to feature Scott Valbert as our Board Spotlight. While Scott is an active member of the YWRC Board of Directors, he also volunteers on the Marketing Committee, has organized in-kind donations, and has helped with our client events (shout out to the time he helped us carry heavy tables on […]

When I think of PRIDE month, a variety of emotions come to the surface for me as a queer woman. I am first filled with excitement and enthusiasm as we gear up for a month focused on really positive affirmations and inclusivity toward this community. Being able to see messages of celebration for a community […]

We are pleased to spotlight Bank of America this month for their generous support of the YWRC through the 2022 Neighborhood Champion award. We are honored to receive this award and to be recognized for our work to remove economic barriers and advance economic opportunity for girls and young women in the Greater Des Moines […]

This month we are pleased to celebrate longtime supporter, Shannon Bielski! Shannon has been a consistent presence with the YWRC and we know we can absolutely count on her to see each project through. “My first involvement with YWRC was 15 years ago, when I attended my first Polk County Women Attorneys Basket Auction to benefit […]

This month we are celebrating the three interns who joined our team this summer (2022): Carla, Mary Carmen, and Tania! These three helped with a wide variety of Empowerment and Young Moms projects while earning educational credit and experience. Mary Carmen supported all of the Young Moms groups at the YWRC (Childbirth Education, Postpartum, and […]