BATAVIA, N.Y. — A decade ago, the YWCA of Genesee County was on the brink of collapse. Essential programs were cut, employees were laid off and money was running out quickly. But now, a remarkable turnaround is underway.
The YWCA of Genesee County hasn’t just survived some tough times but it’s actually now planning to expand and move into a new location along Main Street in Batavia.
The organization’s main focus is helping victims of domestic violence so, when it ran out of money back in 2018, some of the employees turned into volunteers. “We can’t just leave the survivors behind; we can’t just stop our services. So, they continued to work without pay for a while,” says Jamie Beedham-Rada, executive director of the YWCA of Genesee County.
“Unfortunately, there are only about half of the YWCA chapters that there was 10 years ago,” Beedham-Rada says.
The organization continued until it could get back on its feet, raise money from private donors and secure grants from the government. Now, it’s serving more people than ever before.
It runs “My Sister’s Closet” — a thrift shop that is open to the public. The shop helps fund the organization’s domestic violence program. “All the funds go back to our domestic violence program but if you’re a survivor that’s in our program, your clothes are free,” Beedham-Rada explains, “a lot of people we see, come to us and they literally have nothing but the clothes on their back, they’re carrying a baby in their hands, they don’t know what to do, they are desperate so, that’s just one of the easy ways we can help them feel more human again.”
The YWCA also has a food pantry that’s open to anyone who needs it and serves hundreds of families every month.
It offers counseling services for adults and children and rapid rehousing services for those facing homelessness or unsafe situations.
In its new location, all of those programs will be expanded and the YWCA is planning to add a family play cafe, a community room and weekly job placement, parenting and family seminars.
“It’s not just the YWCA in the back corner that does domestic violence services, it’s the community support agency that is now helping all of these different people in our area with different needs that they have,” Beedham-Rada says.
The YWCA is hoping to be moved into its new location by the end of the year. For more information, click here.
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