YWCA Boston's historic headquarters at 140 Clarendon Street

When you think about YWCA Boston, what comes to mind first: our bold mission, or our building?

YWCA Boston still has offices on the 4th floor of our historic headquarters at 140 Clarendon Street, but our programs reach far beyond this small corner of the city. 

Today, almost all of our work is carried out "on the road" throughout Greater Boston in areas where our services are most needed. In this edition of YWCatalyst, we give you a sample of how we are reaching out in pursuit of our mission.

This fall, we held interracial dialgues in Allston-Brighton, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Boston; we ran financial literacy workshops for young professional women near their workplaces downtown; and we taught healthy relationship skills to teen mothers at a shelter for those escaping abusive relationships in one of Boston's most under-served communities.

Eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all is a tall order. We won't achieve our mission by waiting for those in need of our services to find us -- that is why we find them!

YWCA Boston reaches young women just starting out in their careers with financial literacy training on the topics of credit, debt, savings and investment. Our hope is that by providing women with financial education and tools when they are young, they will develop the habits that will ensure their future security. This is critical because compared to men, women in the United States have lower rates of basic financial literacy, which is negatively affecting their short- and long-term financial planning.

Priscilla Olle participated in a YWCA Boston financial literacy workshop. She has also been a volunteer with the organization for several years, and recently was appointed to represent YWCA Boston at the YWCA New England Regional Council.

For example, less than 30% of women under the age of 30 understand how credit card debt works, so it is unsurprising that women are more likely to make late payments on credit card bills than men. The end result of a lifetime lived without financial knowledge and resources, compounded by the persistent wage gap, is devastating: In 2004, average retirement income for women in the US was only $12,000 per year.

Priscilla Olle, Client Account Specialist at Hay Group, participated in a YWCA Boston financial literacy workshop in 2009 and says the knowledge she gained is helping her build toward a more secure future. She discovered the answers to all her questions, even the questions she didn't know to ask, including, "How much of my income should go into savings?" "Is it better to start saving for retirement or to pay off my student loans more quickly?" "How does compound interest work?"

In the year since she attended the workshop, Priscilla has made changes based on the information she gained. She has saved for unexpected expenses, such as car repairs and rent increases, has begun saving for an "emergency fund" -- three months' living expenses -- and has made a plan to repay her student loan debt. She has also been using the free online resources recommended during the workshop in order to track her spending. With these tools, she discovered where she had been unknowingly spending significant amounts of money on discretionary items, and has since made great strides in cutting back on this spending.

Priscilla was truly empowered by gaining the financial insight YWCA Boston's workshop provided, and has shared her newfound knowledge with many of her friends so that they too can take control of their financial well-being.

For more information about YWCA Boston's financial literacy workshops, click here or send us an email.