YWCA Madison is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
YWCA Madison is committed to eliminating racism and empowering women. The way we pursue this commitment is by seeking justice over charity, empowerment over enabling. It is instilled in everything that we do and the propels how we do our work. Our goal is to eliminate barriers that exist for individuals looking to become self-sufficient, expand the thinking of individuals looking to explore privilege and advocate around issues that most affect marginalized communities.
Downtown Location
Our downtown location is a 12-story building conveniently located in the heart of Madison on the Capitol Square at 101 East Mifflin Street. It was formerly the historic Belmont Hotel, built in the 1920s. The largest provider of affordable housing to women in Dane County, YWCA is home to more than 450 women, children, and families each year.
Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
608.257.1436, option 2
Fax 608.257.1439
Empowerment Center
YWCA Madison’s Empowerment Center, located at 2040 S. Park Street, provides resources to individuals seeking to find, change, or maintain a job and acquire skills to advance in the workplace. Staff and other resources are available to help with resume and cover letter writing, job application completion, and finding new job opportunities.
Hours of Operation
Open by appointment only. Please call 608.257.1436, option 3 to schedule an appointment.
Fax 608.395.2598
Accommodations
If you need an interpreter, translator, materials in alternative formats, or other accommodations to access this service, activity, or program, please contact the Property Manager via email or at 608-257-1436, option 2. Please do so at least four days in advance of the appointment.
Information for program participants with disabilities about their rights can be found on the City of Madison Website.
Concealed Carry Policy
Although Wisconsin law permits individuals with a valid permit to carry concealed weapons in public areas and vehicles in Wisconsin, YWCA Madison does not permit firearms or other weapons in any of its buildings. In keeping with this policy, signs posted at all YWCA Madison buildings and vehicle entrances state: Firearms and weapons are prohibited in this building.
Community Space Usage
YWCA Madison is open to providing meeting space, dependent on room availability, to local organizations that share a mission and vision similar to YWCA. To inquire about space, contact a team member or call the main phone number.
Our CEO
Gery Paredes Vásquez
Gery Paredes Vásquez (ella, tu, she, her) is a dedicated, proactive, generative, and collaborative organizational leader. A lifelong practitioner with 20 years of experience developing and nurturing strategic collaborations for intersectional racial justice, collective healing, and liberation in the United States and globally.
She is YWCA Madison’s CEO after six years of directing the Race and Gender department. Gery’s connection to YWCA Madison goes back to 2012 when she first volunteered as a facilitator for the Racial Justice series. She later joined the organization as a Race and Gender Equity Coordinator and Manager before becoming the Director of this same department. Under her leadership, this department continued to grow a community of artists, advocates, organizers, educators, and practitioners as collaborators in co-creating offerings such as YWCA Madison’s annual Racial Justice Summit.
Like many Latine people, Gery was born to families of mixed ethnicities and races due to colonization: Indigenous Quechua, Aymara, and Guarani with European Spanish. This reality shapes her personal journey of learning, unlearning, and healing as well as continues to inspire her work for intersectional justice and collective liberation every day.
In the twenty years of her professional practice, Gery has collaborated with people, communities, and organizations worldwide. These experiences gave her the opportunity to co-create programs, build capacity, and co-facilitate learning experiences that deliberately centered social justice with young and adult populations from a vast range of race, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and ideological identities in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, United States, Swaziland, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Italy.
In the past, Gery has served as the Co-Curricular Director of United World College in Costa Rica, presided over the International Association for Experiential Education, as well as co-founded the community organization Wayna Hilaña Yanapaña together with youth peers in her home country of Bolivia. She is a United World College of India graduate, where she received a full scholarship to participate in a two-year multicultural and international residential experience centering education for peace while living and learning with two hundred peers from eighty-two countries. She received a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Social Justice Education from Prescott College and an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania.
As a passionate lifelong learner, she loves to continue participating in multiple community-based learning, unlearning, and practice experiences. She also enjoys time in Nature, dancing to live music, and connecting with people and cultures at home and via traveling.
Board of Directors
Officers
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Julia Stanley
CHAIR
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Naomi Swain
Vice-Chair
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Angela Bindl
TREASURER
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Ursula Norwood
SECRETARY
Members
Luz Arroyo Calderon
Jihan Bekiri
Kirsten Donkle
Ginger Francis
Leigh Griesbach
Brain Jones
Jan Kittoe
April Kumapayi
kirsty kumar
Jordan-Lindsay Morris-Greer
Jen Rubin
Mary Stelletello
T.R. Williams
Key Dates in YWCA Madison History
Frequently Asked Questions
About YWCA Madison
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YWCA Madison has over 20 programs that fit into one of the following categories:
Advancing race & gender equity to create a more inclusive community;
Helping people improve their financial situations through job training & transportation; and
Supporting people in housing & shelter.
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YWCA Madison provides wrap-around services that partner with people as they move towards self-sufficiency. From the infant on Third Street to teens in Restorative Justice, to the displaced homemaker looking for employment, to our eldest resident, YWCA is supporting people throughout their lifetime. YWCA takes a holistic approach to help people by addressing the root causes of poverty such as homelessness, unemployment/underemployment, and racism.
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YWCA Madison is home to 150 women, children, and families every night. YWCA provides affordable housing for single adult women of all ages and the Third Street Program for single mothers with young children. In addition, YWCA provides shelter to homeless families.
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Most YWCA Madison residents pay rent and sign a lease to live at YWCA. There are 12 units of shelter, where the families do not pay rent as YWCA Madison is part of the Dane County shelter system and provides shelter for families with minor children.
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Thousands of people are empowered through all of YWCA Madison’s programs, from homeless families living at 101 E. Mifflin Street to people engaging in conversations about race through our Race & Gender Equity and Restorative Justice programs to riders getting to and from work on YW Transit and more.
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Yes. Through our housing, job training and transportation services, and Racial & Restorative Justice programs, men benefit from the services we provide.
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YWCA Madison has a diverse income stream to ensure the financial health of our organization. Each year we seek donations from community supporters, conduct fundraising events, apply for grants from public and private sources, and earn limited income from rent.
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Yes. YWCA Madison is a 501(c)(3) organization and your donation to the YWCA is tax-deductible, less the value of any goods or services you receive. For example, goods or services would include a meal if you attend one of our fundraising events. We work hard to keep costs low so that more of your donation goes directly to support people in our programs.
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YWCA once stood for Young Women’s Christian Association. However, this is a reflection of the history of YWCA. Today we only use the acronym YWCA when we refer to ourselves and are not faith affiliated.
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When YWCA USA was established over 160 years ago, it was founded in the Christian faith. Today, YWCA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and not a faith-based organization.
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In Madison, the YWCA and the YMCA are separate non-profit entities with different missions. While YWCA focuses on eliminating racism and empowering women through housing, employment, transportation, and programs addressing race relations, the YMCA focuses on healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility.
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No, we do not have a swimming pool, nor do we provide fitness classes.