Category Archives: Uncategorized

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hello, volunteers! I’d like to introduce you to two new YWRC team members. Please help us give a warm welcome to Joyce Levingston and Julia Mason Gray! Joyce is our Senior Program Director and Julia is our Senior Director of Development. You’ll be hearing from Joyce and Julia in the near future for special volunteer […]

This month we’re excited to celebrate an important member of the YWRC community, Ka’Meka Lowery. For more than twenty years, Ka’Meka has supported both children and young adults to have access to education and resources to be successful. She has partnered with the YWRC in various roles throughout the years, her most recent role being […]

This month, we are excited to spotlight one of the newest YWRC staff members, Christine Tucker! Christine joined the team in April of 2021 as part of our Young Moms Program. While she hasn’t been here long, Christine has already made a meaningful impact in the lives of many participants. “I am the Young Moms […]

While the YWRC works to create and fill a new Volunteer Coordinator position, Maria Robinson has generously offered her time and energy to support and manage the YWRC volunteer program during May and June. Learn more about Maria: Maria Robinson is a proud mother and wife who originally hails from Norfolk, VA where the majority […]

Irma, Empowerment Specialist, shares what it’s been like to participate in two of our Summer Program Clubs: Mind + Movement and Mariposa. This spring, the YWRC Empowerment Team moved quickly to adapt our traditional Summer Programs into interest-based virtual clubs so participants could continue to learn, connect and build community. With several weeks of Summer […]