The YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts was founded in 1911. The Mission of the YWCA speaks to the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women. The YWCA has undergone major changes nationally, regionally and locally, but it has continued “to create opportunities for women’s growth leadership and power” since its inception.
The organization adopted its One Imperative in 1970, “to thrust our collective power toward the elimination of racism wherever it exists and by any means necessary” and continues to work to that goal internally and throughout its service area. The Board of Directors and staff reflect the diversity of the area with a concentrated effort to have many locales served.
The YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts serves the region surrounding Greater New Bedford including communities south of Brockton, east to Provincetown and west to Attleboro. The YWCA is one of 300 local associations of the YWCA USA, incorporated individually and operated autonomously by a Board of Directors elected by the general membership.
The programs and services of the YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts are identified in five areas. They are Advocacy, Adult Services, Wellness for Women and Girls, the Women’s Collaborative Project and Youth Services.
Mission:
The YWCA is a women’s membership movement nourished by its roots in the Christian faith and sustained by the richness of many beliefs and values.
Strengthened by diversity, the Association draws together members who strive to create opportunities for women’s growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision: Peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people.
The Association will thrust its collective power toward the elimination of racism wherever it exists and by any means necessary.
Please visit us online at: http://www.ywca.org
The YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Women’s Resource Center and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) invites women to participate in a program on Tuesday, May 6th to help close the wage gap between women and men at work.
Women in Massachusetts and throughout the country will lose between $700,000 and $2 million over the course of a lifetime because of the wage gap. Women working fulltime, year-round still have median earnings of only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. The difference in what women earn is not going away unless we do something about it. The personal cost of the wage gap means real losses for women and their families every day—it may mean that women cannot set aside tuition for their children to go to college, affording health insurance for their families, or turning the thermostat down to save on heating bills.
The wage gap is the result of a variety of forms of sex discrimination in the workplace, including discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay, sexual harassment, occupational segregation, bias against mothers, and other ways in which women workers and women’s work are undervalued. While most women suffer from the wage gap, it does not affect all women equally. African American women earn only 68 cents for every dollar a man earns, while Hispanic women earn only 57 cents to the male dollar. Young women do not escape the wage gap and it increases with age.
”The Wage Gap: What It Means To You” will be held on Tuesday, May 6 from 8:00am to 9:30am at UMass Dartmouth’s Woodland Commons and will include a continental breakfast. Women need to get information about what they should be earning and ways to mobilize others where they work so that, together, all get paid fairly. Take action to help close the wage gap in the workplace.
Please RSVP to Athena Mota at the YWCA: 508-999-3255. For more information on the wage gap, check out the WAGE Project website at www.wageproject.org.
What could you do with another $700,000, $1.2 million or $2 million over your lifetime?