Young Women's Christian Association of High Point NC

Aquatics program - provide swimming instruction for infants to senior adults including adaptive aquatics for physically and mentally challenged individuals, competitive swim teams and lifeguard training. Water exercise and lap swimming for lifelong fitness, recreation and disease prevention.served 1854 individuals in 2023 with swim lessons, fitness classes, and provided individuals with access to improve overall health through exercise classes, the pool and fitness center. 95% of the individuals stated they had an increased of level of activity due to participation in the programs. of participants who took swimming lessons, 98% of participants learned to swim and/or improved their swimming ability. One of the many success stories within the program is rodney. Rodney was about 60 pounds overweight and needed hip replacement surgery. He needed to lose weight first, so he joined the ywca to begin to change his lifestyle. For months before his surgery rodney was at the ywca every day for hours working out doing cardio and strength training. He lost the weight he needed and had his surgery. Within 6 weeks he was cleared to come back in to work out again. The doctors credited his quick recovery to his weight loss and how active and strong he was due to his consistent work at the ywca fitness center. Rodney continues to be a regular in the fitness center and he says that the ywca has become his second home with all of his family.

Latino family center - the center is dedicated to improving the quality of life and to promoting community participation of latinos living in the community.served 2167 individuals in 2023. Many clients came in for assistance in accessing resources, getting enrolled in english classes, and a variety of other needs. 97% of those coming in for assistance were able to receive the help they needed. When vice president kamala harris came to charlotte, the latino family center director was asked to be on the stage with her during her speech in recognition for all the advocacy work for immigrants that ywca latino family center has done. In 2023 latino family center hosted a 10 year celebration to commemorate being at the ywca for 10 years. Over 75 people attended, including many who were involved in lfc before it merged with ywca in 2013. Once of the english as a second language students was especially impacted by lfc. This year we were able to meet a client that came to us to join our esl class. She and her partner had moved from their country recently and had no family or friends in High Point. Shortly after joining our esl class, her teacher referred her to us because her apartment had burned down. Even though they received support from other agencies she came to us because she didn't know who to ask about mental health services. She explained to me how she still could hear the sound of the fire cracking and how she needed help to be able to move on from that. We were able to connect her with that resource in our community. She mentioned how her esl class had also made them feel like they were not alone and with our support she knew she could come to us if she was ever in any other situation. She was able to find community support at ywca. This year we met a Young student that had recently moved to High Point to live with his dad. He was referred to us from his High school because he needed to do some community service hours but what we found was that he needed much more. Once he knew he could trust us we started talking to him and learning his story. He is a us citizen and was born here but when he was a child, he and his mom had to go back to their country. He knew he was going to come back at some Point, and his mom knew that too, so she made sure that he was ready for when the time was right for him to come back. After many years now he is back here with his dad that he does not know and has no one to help him navigate the system. He went to the newcomers school, that helped him a lot, but once in his school that climate changed. He is a senior in High school and didn't know how to navigate all that goes into applying to college or looking for scholarships. We were able to help him start accumulating service learning hours by helping us and by participating in some events. We have been able to guide him in this process because he was able to trust us enough to open up and explained what he was going through and how difficult it can be to navigate those processes as a Young adult in a different country that is yours, but it also isn't.

Youth services - provide safe and affordable care for school age children ages 5-12, including programs before and after school and full day care during holidays and summer vacations.served 175 youth in 2023. The youth enjoyed many activities including the science bus from High Point university, summer camp, and programs from the local library. Over 90% of students showed improved academics and positive behavior as a result of social emotional learning activities offered at the after school program. One parent had this to say about the after school program: since jacob has been coming to the ywca he has really come out of his shell and has started to interact more with others. Miss kayla and miss tiffany have really worked with him to make him feel welcome here.

Women's services - programs designed to increase awareness of Women's health issues. Served 3670 clients through the baby basics closet, ready to ride car seat program and classes and workshops. A Young lady came to the baby basics closet to receive some assistance. While she was waiting, she started crying. We found out that she, her husband and their two children were living in their car and had been for a couple of months. We were able to provide a space for her to share and just release her concerns and fears. We were also able to provide the items that she needed and connected her and husband to some resources for housing.maternal health-the maternal health department which is comprised of several programs: parents as teachers, healthy beginnings and doula, served over 200 clients in 2023. The focus of maternal health is to reduce health disparities and promote positive birth outcomes, especially for minority women. The parents as teachers program focuses on supporting parents to ensure their children are hitting the milestones they need to so they are ready to start school. Often the support the families receive through these programs is the only support system they have. Through group connections they also can find support from other parents who are in similar situations. A teen parent who was shy and reserved about joining the program or talking with anyone about her being a teen parent joined the program in spite of her fears. In our first visit the teen parent was hesitant but interacted. After a few meetings she seemed to have found her voice and became more confident. As time went on, she faced many challenges but her love for her baby never changed. This Young lady preserved through all challenges with graduating and graduated early in june 2023. She is currently working on becoming a cna then eventually becoming a registered nurse.teaching kitchen served 174 individuals in 2023. Some of the topics covered were: eating healthy on a budget, smart eating habits and teaching youth how to make healthy snacks. After one of the summer camp cooking classes, a parent of one student was thrilled to tell us how excited their kid was after they have done the cooking session. The student told her mom that she was going to be in charge of cooking that night at home, because she wanted them to see all she had learned during camp! The mom was really excited to see how happy her daughter was and how she was empowered to take on the responsibility that day to make dinner for her family.