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1906 - YWCA of Asheville is founded in Henrietta House at 78
Biltmore Avenue for residence and support for working women.
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| 1913 - Employment Club, a group of Negro women, begin meeting on Sunday afternoons. | ||||||
| 1920s - Adela Ruffin is named Secretary of the Phyllis Wheatley branch. "We didn't have any employment agency. Miss Ruffin managed to contact the wealthy people in Biltmore Forest and around and when they wanted reliable, honest help, they called Miss Ruffin and she knew the people who would do what and she supplied them" Lucy Mae Harrison | ||||||
1927 - "The
YWCA shall be tremendously interested in the younger business woman, the
clerk, the bookkeeper, the secretary, and the teacher." –Miss
Lorena Boyd Mason, new general secretary of the Asheville YWCA July 5
1927 "I am particularly interested in the
young business woman who is just starting out in her career."
1961 -
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| 1970 - The YWCA Continuing Education Program is one of the first of its kind in Asheville. The YWCA starts a school at the South French Broad Avenue for teen mothers who are discharged from school being pregnant. | ||||||
1960-1980s - Classes were offered for potential career choices,
such as
 weaving,
knitting and
 millinery. |
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| 1970s - Continuing Education Program for teen mothers was begun, one of the first of its kind in the community. | ||||||
| 1981 - The YWCA started the first Adult GED classes in Asheville. 250 people applied for the classes which sparked the need for AB-TECH. | ||||||
| 1981 - "The girls wanted to start adult education. The Board [of Education] said if we could get 16 - 25 adult applicants, they would have a class over at A-B Tech for them. So we--I don't know how we went out the word--but, anyhow, we had over 100 people apply. There were exams -- and they were long, about three hours -- and we would pick them up if they needed transportation. It was night, some time, I remember. They came in for the exam, and I can remember one poor woman who had finally gotten her courage to come and take it because she was so tired of her children asking her questions and wanting her to read something and she couldn't. She came and she was nervous anyhow she hadn't been there 20 or 30 minutes and was just starting the exam when some member of the family came in and told her she had to leave because some one of their relatives...had died and they had to go to visitation. I never felt so sorry so some soul in all my life. I said, "That's alright. There's another date. I'll come and get you if you'll come back" There are so many just touching stories of why these people wanted to take adult education. Of course, now it's just been a growing thing, but it started with the Y." Una May Lindberg [And that woman did come back.] | ||||||
 1980s |
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| 1981 - "Women-to-Women" support groups begin, helping mothers working outside the home, post-mastectomy rehabilitation, just married, and mixed race couples. | ||||||
| 1983 - Helpmate, Asheville's domestic violence agency, moves its office to the YWCA | ||||||
| 1985 - YWCA MotherLove mentoring program for teen mothers was established. "I used to attend meetings on Tuesday nights, the MotherLove program. It was for teenage mothers. I attended that class when I was 16. A lot of counselors, they counseled for parenting classes. They helped us get our bills and wanted us to complete our education and family planning. They had different people talk with us and see what we needed help in. It was a good program." Mary Williams, Minnie E. Jones | ||||||
| 1985 -Opportunities for learning | Optimal Income Security and Economic Opportunity | Programs Attendance Numbers | ||||
| Computer training - 20 | Career Assessment and Guidance - 10 | |||||
| Pre-Job Guidance - 1 | Job Referral and Placement - 5 | |||||
| Optimal Opportunities for the Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills | ||||||
| CPR, Babysitting - 19 | GED - 15 | |||||
| Informal Education for Self-Improvement and Self-Enrichment - 3825 | ||||||
| Remedial or Special Education for the Disadvantaged- 17 | ||||||
| Optimal Social Functioning | ||||||
| Family Life Education - 200 | ||||||
| 1987 - YWCA Women's Center is established in collaboration with the Buncombe County Women's Commission. Services provided include a resource library, workshops and referral services. "Women's Center was started by a group of women who felt there was a real need for a place where women could come and get free counseling or peer help or a place just to get information. Originally it was located in the YWCA. As the YWCA needed the space, they bought the building across the street. So, the Women's Center is separate over there with part-time staff" Leah Karpen | ||||||
| 1991 - A Tribute to Women - TWIN - is established, the forerunner to Tribute to Women of Influence | ||||||
| 1999 - New Choices (originally NEWS) begins to serve women striving for economic self-sufficiency. New Choices is a case-management program, launched with the support of the North Carolina Department of Administration. | ||||||
| 2005 - MotherLove program received a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative grant from the state of North Carolina | ||||||
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2007 - YWCA Programs for Women |
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 MotherLove/Adolescent
Pregnancy PreventionThe YWCA's MotherLove Program matches
adult mentors with pregnant and parenting teens. Mentors provide needed
support and guidance to these young mothers. Group meetings offer
opportunities for education and sharing.
Lunch Bunch is a school-based support group for pregnant and parenting girls. Lunch Bunch is offered at Asheville High School in partnership with Asheville City Schools Preschool and Randolph Learning Center. Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention educational sessions and one-on-one counseling on pregnancy prevention are also offered. |
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New Choices - Strategies for Success
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