Tag Archives: empowerment

This month we are excited to share about our partnership with Iowa State University Extension & Outreach’s Kids in the Kitchen and Teen Cuisine programs. The partnership began when YWRC team members Sy’Anne and Berenice met and spoke with Youth Nutrition Associate Educator Rebecca at a community tabling event about their fantastic program, Kids in […]

We are excited to celebrate Empowerment Program Specialist Sy’Anne Dysart in this month’s staff spotlight. Sy’Anne has been a member of the team for just shy of three years but her involvement with us started when she attended one of our summer groups. She was also familiar with us through the involvement of her grandparents […]

This month we’re pleased to introduce you to Kayla O’Connor, a member of the YWRC community who focuses on cultivating student engagement at Hiatt Middle School! Over the past few years, Kayla has been a key partner in ensuring Empowerment Groups have continued running smoothly at Hiatt. “I am the Student Engagement Coordinator at Hiatt, […]

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 […]

This month, we are excited to feature staff member Jessica Kincaid in our spotlight! Jessica has been with the YWRC full time for three years, but her time with us began earlier with internships in the summer of 2015 and winter of 2016.   “The opportunity to intern here was sent to me by a […]

About a month ago, our Childbirth & Perinatal Specialist Ashley posed this question to our Young Moms participants: “What challenge have you faced as a young parent (housing, economic, education, health, etc.) and how did you overcome it. What helped you?” In celebration of the strength, resiliency and perseverance of our young moms, we’d like to […]

We are excited to celebrate one of our hard working, dedicated and kind staff members this month, Ashley Ezzio. Ashley has been part of the Young Women’s Resource Center team for a little more than two years as our Childbirth and Perinatal Specialist. A main component of her role is to facilitate a weekly pregnancy […]

Danielle began her journey with the YWRC when she was referred to our Young Moms program through a counselor at North High School; she was pregnant and 14 years old. We have been honored to see her grow over the last eight years into the nurturing, responsible and successful mother she is today. Danielle officially […]

Wearing many hats is something Kahara Hunafa, Empowerment Program Specialist, thrives on. Over the last three and a half years, Kahara has become an integral part of the YWRC team. “I, along with three other Empowerment staff and two Empowerment Assistants, go into Greater Des Moines schools to facilitate small, six-week Empowerment Groups. These groups […]

We are excited to share with you two new tools we’ve developed in the past year to better serve our girls and young women: the Youth Experiences Survey (YES) and the YWRC Resiliency Survey. We are proud to be a leading agency in youth-specific trauma and resiliency research and look forward to sharing these tools […]