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I am confident we can all recall at least one time when we felt the pain of loneliness, felt like an outcast, or worried we wouldn't be accepted in a new situation. Maybe on the first day of a new job? Meeting the family of our future spouse? If nothing else, we all survived the awkwardness of middle school.
Belonging is a psychological need. If an individual does not feel a sense of belonging, it negatively impacts their mental health and sense of well-being. Both Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow theorized that it is part of the human makeup to feel the need to belong with others. YWCA Northeast Indiana is on a mission to promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all so that everyone feels a strong sense of belonging.
In this month's newsletter, we highlight the sense of belonging that our clients feel when they receive services from our Dress for Success program. We also talk about the importance of belonging in our Don't Say, Do Say campaign and celebrate the work anniversaries of several YWCA staff, congratulating them on their years of belonging to this organization.
June is Pride Month, and we want to recognize the desire of our LGBTQ+ community to be understood and accepted. We also want to recognize the importance of talking positively about others in our upcoming Coffee & Conversations event: The Power of Positive Gossip. And, we participated in the Macknificent Freedom Fest, an event celebrating the federal holiday Juneteenth, commemorating the day that the news of emancipation reached all African Americans who were enslaved.
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The Macknificent Freedom Fest took place throughout the day on June 17th at McMillen Park. We were excited to have a table and celebrate with our community! This is a time of joy and encouragement as we commemorate an important day in history and emerge reenergized to do the work that still needs to be done to eliminate racism and promote peace, freedom, dignity, and justice for all in northeast Indiana and our country.
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Thank you to our group of supporters who supported our Dress for Success Fashion Week event! Congratulations to Deborah Sturges for receiving the most votes. She is certainly a fashionista and a rock star model! Thank you also to our corporate sponsors, event committee, and the rest of our wonderful models.
If you heard rumors of us purchasing and renovating the old Hall's Guesthouse Hotel, those whispers are indeed true! Yes, we have purchased this nostalgic hotel and have begun renovations. We were excited to have so much community support at our groundbreaking event that took place on June 20th. We invite you to join this unique opportunity to help us expand our space so that we can meet the growing needs of our community. We invite you to belong to a group of supporters who will be forever recognized through various naming opportunities as we come near the end of a $16.7 million dollar project. We are seeking about $600,000 more in funding in order to make our capital campaign goal. Will you join others in support of this project?
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Pictured (left to right): Kim Carpenter (Board Member), Suzanne Wagner (Board Member), Kathy Meyers (PNC), Dottie Davis (Board Chair), Mayor Tom Henry (City of Fort Wayne), Paula Hughes-Schuh (CEO, YWCA NEIN), Aimee Myers (Hefner Foundation), Tom Salzer (Board member and project Architect), Patti Hays (AWS Foundation), and Kristin Giant (McMillen Foundation).
We want to thank you for your ongoing support. You belong to our tribe. And, we belong to your tribe. Belonging is a wonderful feeling, and we all hold the key to opening doors for others. We can choose to strengthen well-being and mental health through belonging, for ourselves and others.
YWCA Northeast Indiana couldn't do what we do without folks like you supporting us! Thank you for reassuring us, and our clients, that we belong. Thank you!!
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Dress for Success Fort Wayne empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools women need to thrive in work and in life. | | |
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Services Offered:
Professional Suiting
Resume Writing
Interview Coaching
Career Counseling
Power Networking
Job Retention Skills
Career Advancement
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Since starting in 1997, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 115 cities in 13 countries. Dress for Success Fort Wayne is the only affiliate in northeast Indiana and is supported by YWCA Northeast Indiana.
Dress for Success serves job-ready women from non-profit organizations, including domestic violence agencies, homeless shelters, and job-training programs. When she successfully lands the job, she can return to the boutique for up to one week’s worth of business-appropriate separates. Sponsored by 1st Source Foundation, the boutique also includes scrubs for the medical industry and black and white separates for the food service industry.
Learn more about Dress for Success on our website.
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Changing the world one message at a time. | |
Unresolved trauma, whether recent or in the past, can lead some people to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. Often, assumptions are made about people who abuse drugs or alcohol, with a common misperception that these folks are just seeking a ‘‘good time." It’s important to realize that not everything is as it may seem, and many people use substances to numb their pain versus solely for entertainment. The effects from trauma are very real, and can be painful. Unresolved trauma can lead people to make unhealthy choices. | |
Belonging is a psychological need. If an individual does not feel a sense of belonging, it negatively impacts their mental health and sense of well-being. Both Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow theorized that it is part of the human makeup to feel the need to belong with others. | |
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YWCA Northeast Indiana's 24/7 Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Crisis Line is free and confidential: 800.441.4073
To see all of our Don't Say/Do Say messages, please visit our website.
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Coffee & Conversations
The Power of Positive Gossip
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Coffee & Conversations is an opportunity for women in the community to discuss pertinent topics about how to be successful in the business sphere, public square, or in personal growth and development. YWCA Northeast Indiana invites women to come together in conversation for this free quarterly series. | |
Evidence shows that helping others can have a positive effect on your own mental health and wellbeing. Gossip can be a good thing, depending on what we are saying. Let's change the negative we say about others to positive, empowering messages about others. | |
Cristina Jiménez is a Therapist at Courageous Healing. She was born in California but raised on the south side of Fort Wayne, IN. Cristina graduated from Purdue Fort Wayne with a Master’s in Counseling Education. Her approach to therapy is using a culturally sensitive and trauma-informed lens to understand her clients and their experiences. She has had the opportunity to develop her skills and knowledge base while working alongside adults, teens, and the elderly in the social services field for about 5 years, with some of that spent working for YWCA Northeast Indiana as the Education Coordinator.
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Tishamarie Strasser (statistic turned CEO of "Bring It, Push It, Own It") tells her story of how she stopped being the victim and became her own hero. She has 10 years of experience that includes starting a non profit that helps girls, women, the disability community, and athletes discover their true passion, power, and purpose. She now helps others step out of their own story and discover how to be their own heroes. Using her mentoring, neuroencoding certification, and lived experience, Tishamarie is here to get you off of your roundabout and ready to rise up and be your own hero!
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What is Persimmon Pride? Persimmon is the orange pantone color of our YWCA brand. Internally, #PersimmonPride is more than a hashtag or mantra. It is a belief in the impact the YWCA team is having in our community. It's more than a saying. It is who we are and what we believe in. | |
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"I choose to work at YWCA Northeast Indiana because I believe in the mission. Each day I get to support survivors and be a piece of their story and path to empowerment."
-Jennifer (Director of Empowerment)
"I chose to work at YWCA because the people are awesome and the impact is real. I'm so honored to work alongside so many dedicated, talented, and empowering people that are committed to making a difference in the lives of others."
-Hannah (Grants Manager)
"I choose to work at YWCA because I believe our mission is essential for the well-being of our community."
-Emily (Housing Advocate)
"When I first decided to major in social work, my goal was to work with victims and survivors of DV and SA. We see people come into services defeated, alone, and lost. I believe this is one of the worst feelings. I choose to work at YWCA to help victims become survivors. To remind them that they are important so they will be able to believe in themselves, their value, and their worth."
-Stephanie (Advocate Coordinator)
The passion from our staff, in addition to the unending support from our community, is what makes our work possible. Thank you to our staff and the northeast Indiana community for your support!
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Dress for Success Fashion Week 2023 | |
We are excited to shout out the winner of our 3rd annual Virtual Fashion Week. Congratulations to Deborah Sturges for receiving the most votes and raising the most funds for our Dress for Success program! Deborah will receive two tickets ($200 value) to our annual Circle event on October 19th. | |
We would also like to thank our models and everyone who cast a vote to support our Dress for Success program. The dollars and awareness you all helped raise about Dress for Success will help empower women in our community to achieve economic independence! | |
Finally, we are so thankful for our sponsors, who helped make Fashion Week possible! We couldn't have done it without you! | |
There is value in the past. Our history at YWCA Northeast Indiana is full of experiences, experiences that have helped develop us into the life-saving agency we are today. We are not able to serve the growing demand for our services in our current, limited space. And, while there is beauty in the patina, our old keys won’t open new doors. Now, we begin a journey of opening new doors. Will you join us? | |
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The time has come when the past is no longer enough.
The time has come to look, not at what could be, but what will be.
It’s time to unlock new doors.
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Learn more about our capital campaign and how you can get involved and support YWCA Northeast Indiana by visiting our website. | |
Goldstein Family Scholarship Program | |
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The goal of the Goldstein Family Scholarship Program is to help female survivors of domestic violence improve their self-sufficiency and quality of life by completing higher education. The scholarship fund provides financial support for tuition, books, rent, utilities, and childcare. Learn more here.
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We have recently updated our Amazon Wish List with current needs, including needs for clients and operations needs. Your purchases can be sent directly to our location.
If you would like to financially support YWCA Northeast Indiana, you can access our donation page by following the link below:
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