Annual

Impact Report

FY2022

Story of Impact

Supporting Survivors

Our largest program, REACH Crisis Services, provides support to survivors of domestic and sexual violence and stalking 24/7/365. One of our most intensive services is our emergency shelter program, Emily's Place, where we provide safe, confidential, short-term housing while survivors and their children start to rebuild their futures. In Emily's Place program, we see individuals and families enter our program at the most vulnerable times in their lives. We have the ability to empower clients to redefine their futures. We don't always see someone's full journey, but each and every interaction we have with a survivor plants a seed of growth and support.

Among our clients served in shelter over this past year, our team was able to assist Nia, a single mother of a newborn, who was experiencing domestic violence, substance misuse and homelessness. Our advocates were able to help her sign a lease to her first apartment, gain employment, and successfully maintain sobriety. This is possible all due to her hard work despite challenge after challenge, dedication to engage fully in our program, and collaboration with the advocates to complete weekly goals leading to her successful completion of our program. Nia can nowcontinue her journey to rebuild a future where she is safe, happy, and empowered to make her own decisions for herself and her child.

See more stories of our impact from our various programs and services throughout this report!

Education - Community - Support - Impact

Educating our Community

On a visit to a local school for a prevention course on healthy boundaries, a student asked to speak with our advocate after class. He shared how he’d taken home what he learned in the program, was practicing difficult boundary setting within his own relationships, and shared some difficult experiences he had been through. He thanked us for coming in, sharing the additional resources, and providing a place of genuine support. That is what this work is all about- even if one person learns about what we do and knows we are here, our programs are successful.

Elevating Untold Stories

Sadie has been coming for a few months now to our Manchester Outright LGBTQ+ youth support group. After some time building trust and relationships with the other group attendees, she felt comfortable enough to come out as transgender! The next step is to come out to her family, and we are working on this with her to feel safe and comfortable. She’s identified that this is the first place she has ever felt comfortable being herself.

YWCA NH Team Shoutout!

Our incredible staff is small, but mighty! With only 26 staff and approximately 60 volunteers, YWCA New Hampshire has accomplished a tremendous amount this past year. Our team is made up of incredibly passionate, dedicated individuals who get up each day and do the work of supporting the most marginalized, vulnerable groups in our community. We thank them for all they do each and every day to make YWCA New Hampshire a safe, accessible resource to those in need.

Our volunteers completed 5,935 hours of volunteer service this past year! These hours include answering crisis line calls, sitting on our 5K planning committee, serving on our board of directors, general clean up/organization in our building, and more. We would not be able to have the same level of impact without such a dedicated group of volunteers!

Thank You Donors!

Thank you to all of our supporters, donors, and Champions who have made our work possible this year and beyond! Your support really does have an impact on our ability to reach those most in need. Not a Champion yet?

Join Today!

Champion, Empower, Serve

Breaking the Cycle of Trauma

The ACERT team, in partnership with Amoskeag Health and the Manchester Police Department, was able to serve hundreds of families this year including Suzanna and her young son John. Suzanna came in one day with several pressing challenges and it was determined the ACERT program would be the best option to assist. Initially, the relationship between the mother and her child was very close and a sense of separation would lead to challenges for John. Over the course of the next four to five months, Suzanna was connected to a handful of resources that would benefit John in the long run and assist with these challenges. A child advocate kept in touch with the family and would periodically check in to make sure all is going well. Just a few weeks ago, John and Suzanna came in for some housing resources and their difference in behavior and demeanor of John was astounding. When John and Suzanna are around the area, he’s always stopping by to say hello and play in our gym. Their story is a reminder that not every story that starts in a crisis ends in a crisis.

Empowering our Youth

As her capstone project, one of our AIM students Alivia planned a bake sale and donation drive from which she would donate the proceeds and goods to several local non-profits that have positively impacted her and her loved ones. Alivia shared this: "The past 12 weeks I've been in this program called AIM, Advocate in Me. AIM is all about doing what's right in your community. I decided to take charge and do a donation-fundraiser-bake sale! Basically, as the bake sale is happening my hope is to get enough donations so that I can distribute them to Families in Transition, My Turn, The Hope Center, and YWCA NH! AIM is very important to me and many other students because it builds future leaders of Manchester. Because of AIM I'm not afraid to share my story anymore and I feel encouraged to share it. AIM has given me space that I needed to finally feel safe and secure to talk about my problems." Her confidence in planning and hosting the bake sale and her ability to communicate her 'why' was made possible by her time in the AIM program.

Serving our New American Community Members

This summer, The Amiko Youth Program has the honor of welcoming 20 new students who resettled in Manchester from Afghanistan. It’s been wonderful to see them meet new friends, explore their new city, and share their culture with our other Amiko participants. Our ability to welcome them wholly has made a big difference for parents, and they've been such an amazing addition to our community.

Our Core Programming

REACH Crisis Services is a program of YWCA NH and one of 12 member programs of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. This program provides free and confidential services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking. These services include a 24/7 crisis line; web chat and text line support; walk-in services; accompaniments throughout community; housing; and education and prevention programming.

The Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Center for New Americans, hosted in partnership with YWCA New Hampshire, launched in December of 2017 to better serve the needs of the New American community in Manchester, NH. The program’s foundation is a safe space that welcomes anyone who enters, no matter their path to get there. Programming includes the Amiko Youth Program, where youth are given transportation, a snack, and the ability to learn and grow, and Adult Programming which seeks to advance continuing education for New Americans as well as create pathways for employment.

RISE Housing Program at YWCA NH is made up of 3 survivor driven programs that assist survivors with obtaining and/or sustaining stable, safe housing and provide them with the support and resources needed to become self-sustainable. The programs include Emily’s Place Emergency Shelter Program, Housing First Program, and Transitional Housing Program.

Manchester Outright is a program focusing on providing advocacy and support for LGBTQ+ individuals. Manchester Outright helps to promote Queen City Pride and other events year round and runs a weekly LGBTQ+ youth support group.

theWELL is a program in partnership with Southern NH University and builds upon our work in the SNHU Center for New Americans. the WELL has four focus areas wellness, education, language and learning through providing opportunities for all members of our community to access high quality education and wellness programming designed to enhance their lives.

For more information about all of our programs and services, check out our website here!

This Year's Events

empowerHER Breakfast

This past year at our annual empowerHER Breakfast we honored Dr. Loretta Brady and Mary Rose Wainaina and their efforts that have benefited the women in our community. We had over 150 attendees, in person and virtually, join us to celebrate our honorees and our work throughout the year.

REACH for Hope 5K-

Race Against Racism

Our annual 5K race was a huge success! Our team had a great time celebrating our work and raising awareness alongside our community. We had almost 200 runners, joggers, and walkers join us to make great strides in fulfilling our mission to eliminate racism and empower women to help build healthier and safer communities in New Hampshire.

Derry Office Opening

We were able to host an open house at our newly launched Derry satellite office last month, joined by key partners in the Derry community including the police department, several community organizations, and elected officials. This office will be open 9-4:30PM Mondays and Wednesdays, located at 16 Manning Street, Unit 110. We are excited to integrate into the larger Derry Community!

Staff Retreat

Our staff was able to come together for a retreat last month in June. During this time, we were able to come together in community, rejuvenate our passion for the work, and plan for new and exciting developments to come this year! It was just what our team needed to recharge for an exciting year to come!

Join us for Upcoming Events

Open House, September 8
empowerHER Breakfast, October 6
REACH for Hope 5K, April 2023

Thank You and Stay in Touch!

We are thankful for all the support and impact we had over the last year and are excited to expand even further this upcoming year. Follow along with us as we take on FY2023!