The YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester and KeyBank have entered into a community partnership to provide life-changing digital-skills training and resources to low-income women currently residing in the YWCA”™s Women”™s Residence in White Plains, as well as to women residing throughout Westchester County. Through a $200,000 KeyBank Foundation grant ($100,000 per year for two years), the YWCA will scale its YW Strive program to provide at least 100 women (with an emphasis on women of color and low-income women) with essential digital and workforce support to improve their vocational opportunities.
The ultimate goal of the program is to not only support women in their efforts to gain employment, but to empower them to take a step toward breaking free from poverty and its devastating effects. KeyBank”™s funding will enable the YWCA to hire a full time YW Strive program director and provide at least 16 cohorts of 12 women each over a two-year period with the Strive training program and free internet hotspots and/or computing devices.
John Manginelli, KeyBank market president and Northeast regional executive for KeyBank Real Estate Capital, said, “One of the effects we”™ve seen from the pandemic is the disproportionate impact it has had on women and women of color experiencing acute employment disparities due to system disadvantages. Our partnership with the YWCA is aimed at helping to alleviate those disadvantages by directly addressing the lack of basic digital skills and internet access that many unemployed and underemployed women in our community face, preventing them from seeking higher paying jobs and a path out of poverty.”
“The YWCA Residence is more than a safe and stable home for women; our broad services open doors to life-changing opportunities,” said Isabella Malouf, director of residence and clinical services. “Programs like YW Strive give women at the residence and throughout Westchester County the tools they need to confidently enter and advance in the working world.”
The YWCA is the largest provider of supportive housing for low-income women in New York state and the only one in Westchester.
Since its founding in 1929, the YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester has been a pioneer for social change through innovative programs that improve the lives of women and girls in Westchester. Each week, the YWCA serves over 4,000 women, children and their families.
