YWRC 2025 Wrapped

Happy New Year from the YWRC!

As our team prepares for next year, we’re also celebrating all that we accomplished in 2025: increased sustainability, new program resources, and participant growth. YOU helped make all this possible – thank you. We hope you enjoy reading about just some of the ways you made a difference this year.

In November, we held the inaugural YWRC Book Sale – the revival of a 60-years-plus beloved biannual event. The community showed up ready to buy books, connect with one another, and support Central Iowa’s girls and young women. The sale will help bolster our financial health as we, like many non-profits, navigate uncertain public and funding landscapes.

With generosity from Microsoft, we launched a new technology lab. Participants can access the lab for digital literacy and STEM education, helping narrow the gendered digital divide that can harm young women’s job prospects and earning potential. Our lab will ensure that young women are ready for a competitive workforce.

Intensive effort by our Young Moms team increased the number of doulas we work with – especially bilingual doulas which broadens access even further. This helped grow the number of young moms receiving doula services by over 50%! Doula care improves birth and health outcomes for moms AND babies, as well as educational outcomes for moms still in middle or high school.

Even amidst these exciting successes, the year didn’t come without its challenges. Support from donors like you fortified our confidence that we could – and must – keep living our mission. As you do your own reflecting on the past year, we hope that you are proud of all you did to champion girls and young women in Central Iowa. We are certainly most grateful for it.

Thank you again and wishing you a wonderful 2026.

Sincerely,

Rachel Woodhouse
CEO