Y.W.C.A. seeks funding for future

They are the next generation of women who will carry on the work of the Young Women’s Christian Association. And today, as the “Y” celebrates nearly fifty years of service, children from the Y.W.C.A. preschool entertained a group of visiting officials from the city of Evanston, Illinois. According to President of the Y.W.C.A., Dame Elaine Middleton, as the organisation looks to the future, it is trying to secure funding for some of its key programmes.

Dame Elaine Middleton, President, Y.W.C.A.

“We are celebrating the forty-eighth anniversary of the organisation. We started very small and gradually we have expanded, and so we have a variety of programs that we are now offering to the community.”

“We had approached the Belize City Council for assistance with our help programme. This is the early leavers training program for girls who would otherwise not get into any other kind of formal kind of institution for continued education. And we offer that to between forty to fifty girls every year. But more and more as our external funding is drying up, it’s becoming more and more difficult for us to find the resources to continue and expand this program. And so we had approached the City Council asking them if they could assist us with this particular programme and they said that they would get in touch with the sister city and ask the organisation over there if they will be able to give any assistance. And so those representatives are here today and touring this facility and seeing what we are offering.”

Middleton says that in addition to the early leavers programme, the Y.W.C.A. offers preschool and day-care, as well as programmes for senior citizens. Meanwhile, a week of activities to highlight the work of the Y.W.C.A., culminates on Saturday with a sports and open day at the organisation’s headquarters on the corner of Freetown Road and St. Thomas Street in Belize City.