Young Women Empowered helps teens achieve their goals

Published 2:05 pm Tuesday, December 11, 2012

When Rahwa Ghebremichael was younger, an all-female environment would have been the last place she’d want to be.

She’d participated in various youth leadership and mentorship programs but they were always co-gender programs. It wasn’t until she joined Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) at 17 that Ghebremichael realized the value in spending time with other girls and women.

“And I liked it and I loved it,” said the Everett resident, who is now 20.

Y-WE — which recently moved its office to the Together Center at 16315 N.E. 87th St., Suite B-9 in downtown Redmond — is a nonprofit organization that serves girls ages 12-18 and women ages 19-80. According to its website, the leadership and mentorship program is for teen girls in the Pacific Northwest and helps them “build ongoing mentorship relationships; gain tools to create successful futures; participate in service and philanthropy projects; confront social justice issues; and gain leadership skills.”

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

The origins of Y-WE are based in The Power of Hope, a nonprofit youth empowerment organization in Seattle.

Y-WE director and cofounder Jamie-Rose Edwards (right) had been working there for about eight years and as the grant manager, she came across the opportunity to design an all-girls leadership program. The program she created was called Young Women on the Rise and included 40 teen girls and 20 women who served as mentors. Edwards said the funding they received was only for a one-year program, but the participants wanted to see it continue so they held a fund-raising dinner in May 2010, called the International Dinner — so named as about 90 percent of participants (teens and mentors) came from immigrant families. The dinner raised $10,000 to be used as seed money to create Y-WE. Due to limited funds, Edwards said they had to do most of the work themselves including the food, explaining that the girls’ families pitched in by cooking dishes from their countries of origins.

While putting on the International Dinner was a team effort, Ghebremichael led that effort as her high school senior project. The dinner has become an annual fund-raising event for Y-WE.

She said through that experience, as well as her time in Y-WE, she has learned that you can make anything happen if you put enough thought and heart into it, sharing that her senior project teacher originally advised her to keep the monetary goal of the event to only a few hundred dollars instead of the far-reaching number of $10,000.

“I was able to prove her wrong and show her it’s possible,” said Ghebremichael, who is now the youth outreach intern at Y-WE and on her way to becoming a mentor.

Y-WE began its first year of programming in September 2010 and Edwards said they were able to establish themselves so quickly because they are a chapter of Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE) Global. According to its website, PYE Global is an international nonprofit that partners with existing groups to develop workshops and programs that cater to the young people in a local area.

SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE

Y-WE has three programs: Y-WE Lead, Y-WE Speak and Y-WE Write.

Y-WE Lead — which explores issues such as peer pressure, relationships, body image and health — is based on the Young Women on the Rise program. Edwards said this program focuses on helping girls achieve personal goals and take the skills they have learned to fight for a greater cause of their choice. Y-WE Lead holds monthly meetings for the teens to connect with the mentors, who are not assigned to specific individuals. Instead, Edwards said the girls work with whichever women meet their needs, which range from help with college applications to advice about entering specific vocations.

“We are not a one-on-one mentorship program,” Edwards said.

She added that the mentee-to-mentor ratio is 2-to-1 with about 130 girls and 70 women.

The two remaining programs, Y-WE Speak and Y-WE Write, also focuses on helping the teens achieve their goals, but through theater and writing. Through these programs, the teens work with professionals in the field from Seattle Repertory Theatre and the women writers’ group, Hedgebrook on Whidbey Island.

Edwards said Y-WE Lead and Y-WE Speak coincide with the school year and run from September to May and Y-WE Write is a weeklong summer camp.

Y-WE mentor coordinator Victoria Santos said it is important for young women to have mentors to help them see the path ahead and what can be their future.

Santos is also a mentor for Y-WE and said she has really enjoyed working with the girls and seeing what they learn from the mentors, as well as what the mentors learn from the girls.

“My favorite experience has been with the transformation in the interaction between the mentors and the girls,” Santos said.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Y-WE is free and open to all, but Edwards said families are asked to contribute any funds if they are able to help pay for the programs. She said it costs $1,500 per girl, per year for their yearlong programs, and for those who are unable to contribute, Y-WE offers scholarships.

The annual Y-WE International Dinner raises money for these scholarships and this year, Peet’s Coffee & Tea at 17887 Redmond Way in Redmond will be raising money for the nonprofit through its Holiday Donation Program.

The store will be collecting donations from Dec. 17-24. Customers will be able to add the donations to their bill, in addition to their order. Cash, credit and debit card payments will be accepted. Customers can also make straight donations if they do not order anything. As a “thank you,” Peet’s will be offering complimentary drip coffee and tea to customers on Dec. 24.

“The amount we can raise is endless, but the amount Peet’s will match is up to $1,000,” said store manager Carrie Nelson.

She said in selecting a nonprofit to donate to, they asked for nominations from their customers. Peet’s received more than 50 suggestions, and after Nelson researched and narrowed down the choices, the store’s staff unanimously voted for Y-WE.

“It just touched every single one of us,” Nelson said about the organization.

Peet’s in Redmond is open Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.