YWCA Boston's New Pool - Part II
Posted by Sylvia Ferrell-Jones on Tue, Jun 01, 2010 @ 08:28 AM
Last Friday, I told you about the numerous Bostonians who know and remember our beloved, but now-gone swimming pool at 140 Clarendon Street. As YWCA Boston gains mission velocity, we're proud to reveal our new pool.
It's a pool of YW people: a new generation of girls, women and men - thousands, actually - who need YWCA Boston to help teach them how to "swim" in the increasingly complex world we live in:
• Women across this city who are so busy caring for their children, and working several jobs to stay afloat, that they don't have the time, the access or the ability to care for themselves.
• Young women entering the shallow end of the workforce of laborers and paraprofessionals who have never been taught how to best manage what little money they earn.
• Young girls sitting by the side, whose diminished self-esteem leads to poor health choices and habits.
• Breast cancer survivors who, thrown into the deep end, face a devastating illness and crave the life support of others who know what they are going through.
• Teens, benched by the authorities, who are so angry and forgotten that they are unable to voice their concerns or seek reconciliation and peace for themselves or their neighborhoods.
• A plurality of Bostonians who desire to be part of the team but whose dreams and aspirations are dismissed or diminished because of the taint of racism and sexism.
Ultimately, the YWs pool is a pool of people and potential - women in need, children at risk, and neighbors in conflict - who need our services, our lifesaving and our . . . your . . . support. Through financial literacy, health education, youth/police dialogues and neighborhood interracial dialogues we aim to inspire, teach and empower Bostonians to not only "swim" and save themselves, but others around them as well.
Our pool is a pool of people and we invite you to help us elevate future generations to more steadily, more strongly, and more confidently thrive.
Sylvia Ferrell-Jones is the President & CEO of YWCA Boston.
Please support YWCA Boston programs by donating or volunteering.