The YWCA USA is a women's membership movement nourished by its roots in the Christian faith that aims to attain a common vision: peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people.

Description:
The YWCA of Greater Charleston, Inc., promotes its mission via its programs. Currently, the organization has a number of programs which support the mission. Below is a description of some of the current programs that are offered:

• Working Opportunities for Women (WOW!) is a six-week training program designed to help women gain skills to successfully find and keep a good job. The first four weeks of the program include on-site classroom instruction. The second four weeks include individual consultation and support in the job search and interview process.
  
  
• Teen Leadership Academy provides 9th grade girls with the opportunity to build interpersonal skills, expand knowledge of career choices, prepare academically for college, and experience enrichment opportunities through arts and cultural events.
  
  
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day offers several programs on various days in January that commemorate and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  
  
• The Week Without Violence is a national YWCA-sponsored event to promote peaceful communities that is held in October. In 2007, over 6,000 school children from Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties participated in Week Without Violence, decorating peace doves and discussing the meaning of non-violence in our community and our world. The YWCA and the Charleston Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) co-sponsored the initiative that culminated in a breathtaking display of doves draped in the trees throughout Marion Square Park.
  
  
• The Low Country Women's Coalition is a coalition of women that aims to influence public policy and legislation in the following areas: Promote educational equity; Eliminate the persistent and pervasive "confederate mindset" (race, gender, class); and Promote diversity in political leadership.



History:
The YWCA's history spans 100 years in the lowcountry area and is as rich and varied as Charleston itself. The organization's reinventions through the years came about in the face of challenges, both internal and external, as well as opportunities. Since 1969, the YWCA of Greater Charleston, Inc. has been the only YWCA in the trident area. It continues to provide programs and services for all people that support its mission to empower women and eliminate racism.

1907 - A group of women of the YWCA Women's Auxiliary founded the Coming Street YWCA on July 4, 1907.

The first president of the Coming Street YWCA was Mrs. Felicia Goodwin, the grandmother of Herbert U. Fielding, Judge Bernard R. Fielding, Timothy Fielding and the late Emily F. Fielding. The women bought the first building in 1911 for $3,000. The new YWCA received state and national charters and functioned as a separate entity for 13 years.

1920 - The National YWCA guided the Coming Street YWCA into becoming a branch of the Central YWCA on Society Street.

During 1918-1920, the Board of Coming Street YWCA faced challenge in paying its debt from the 1911 building purchase. Thus, the National YWCA negotiated with the Coming Street YWCA to become a branch of the Central YWCA in 1920 and paid off the Coming Street YWCA's building mortgage. The Coming Street YWCA Branch used its facility as temporary headquarters for the War Work Council. The Coming Street Branch YWCA functioned as a branch of the Central YWCA for 49 years between 1920 and 1969.

1967 - Objecting to the National YWCA's support of various public policy issues during 1966 and 1967, the George Street YWCA voted to disaffiliate from the National YWCA. The leaders of the Coming Street YWCA branch and other community leaders met and initiated plans to re-organize a community YWCA.

On June 3, 1967, the Coming Street Branch YWCA held an organizational meeting to initiate plans for a new Community YWCA. The volunteer attorneys guiding the new YWCA were Attorneys Bernard R. Fielding, Ellis I. Kahn, and Bernard R. Solomon. Ellis I. Kahn suggested a new name for the Coming Street YWCA: The YWCA of Greater Charleston was born.

The National Board of the YWCA of the USA voted to disaffiliate the Charleston YWCA on March 15, 1969. In turn, The YWCA of Greater Charleston, Inc. received state and national charters in March 1969 and February 1970, respectively, to become the only YWCA in the trident area.

The YWCA of Greater Charleston, Inc. continues to provide programs that aim to empower women and eliminate racism.



Contact people:


Dolores Greene, Interim Executive Director, (phone), (email) Warachal Faison, Board President, (phone), (email)


Office fax number: (843) 722-4992

Address:


106 Coming Street Charleston, SC Charleston, SC 29403 (See a map)


Web Site: http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=euLSK7MKIpG&b=1000547

Directions:

Drive down King Street towards downtown Charleston. Turn RIGHT onto Calhoun Street.. At the 2nd intersection, make a RIGHT turn onto Coming Street. Look for the YWCA on the RIGHT.

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