Experts Archives

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’RE STILL HERE. The six-week abortion ban went into effect in Iowa today. This legislation may negatively impact the youth we serve – we’ll share more about the ban, why it matters, and the complexities of what it means for the future of youth another day. For now, hear us when we say that we at […]

Happy New Year’s Eve! Thank you for joining us in solidarity with local girls and young women for another year. Here’s to celebrating the close of 2023 and looking forward to new beginnings in 2024!  At the YWRC, we have had a whirlwind of a year, which has given us the opportunity to refocus, reframe, and […]

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 […]

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 […]

A letter from Executive Director Kristin Griffith: I continue to be amazed by the sheer passion and commitment our community has for the  girls and young women of the YWRC. Our clients never fail to move and humble me with their desire to succeed and ability to  thrive in situations where many of us would falter. As […]