New Name for YWCA, but Same Goal

The South Orange County YWCA women’s shelter in Santa Ana, which has served the homeless for 13 years, is no more. The shelter and the people who run it are still there, but the organization has changed its name to WISEPlace, Women Inspired, Supported and Empowered, and in the process has severed its association to the national YWCA.

But the break is not as dramatic as it sounds, according to Kathleen Bowman, executive director of WISEPlace.

Bowman explains that local YWCAs are independent nonprofit organizations and support and fund the national YWCA, not the other way around. The South Orange County YWCA was born out of meetings of the Santa Ana Women’s Committee in 1924, and opened its first facility in 1929.

In 1987, the Hotel for Women was built to provide a transitional living center for Orange County’s homeless women. Since its opening, the shelter has helped more than 5,500 women make the transition to independent living.

“Now that we’re strictly a homeless shelter, we cannot afford to fund the national association,” Bowman said. “And as an association moving into the 21st century, we felt there was more community support for a community association.”

The shelter can provide meals and shelter for 30 women. More than half of the women are graduates of domestic violence or drug or alcohol programs, Bowman said. About a quarter are victims of “catastrophic financial events” and about 15% suffer from minor forms of mental illness. Another 10% are developmentally disabled or are elderly.

Most women stay for about four to six months as they finish education and counseling programs and pay $65 a week after they’ve secured steady employment.

“Some stay longer, especially the older women,” Bowman said. “We acknowledge that there are no quick fixes to 30 or 40 years of dysfunction.”

“But its not just a place for women to sleep,” she said. “They have to be willing to help themselves.”

The organization hopes to raise $200,000 this year to purchase new furnishings and to complete maintenance projects at the shelter. The shelter also wants to begin providing loaner cars for tenants, Bowman said, as some women spend two to three hours on public transportation when looking for employment.

“We had one woman in our program who had lived on and off in motels for a while,” Bowman said. “She would wash her clothes at the motel and take them to work to hang on filing cabinets to dry. It’s not the most orthodox way to live. We trying to break that cycle.”

Chris Ceballos can be reached at (714) 966-7440