[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 111 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO THE YWCA PASADENA-FOOTHILL VALLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 8, 2005

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the YWCA Pasadena-
Foothill Valley upon its 100th anniversary.
  In 1905, a group of prominent Pasadena women formed a branch of the 
National Consumers League in an effort to hold local employers 
accountable to statewide labor laws for young working women. As 
affordable housing for these young women became a concern, this same 
group formed the Young Women's League and provided rental housing for 
working women. This was the start of what was to become, in 1909, the 
Pasadena Young Women's Christian Association, YWCA. In 1910, they 
purchased a property in Pasadena and in the 1920s, hired Julia Morgan, 
California's first woman architect, to design the landmark building on 
that same land.
  During the First World War, the YWCA offered Red Cross training and 
classes in the arts to young working women, while actively rallying for 
women's suffrage and better working conditions for California's migrant 
workers. In the 1920s, the YWCA made special outreach efforts to 
include African-American and Japanese-American girls.
  During the Great Depression, the YWCA offered loans and free room and 
board to women in need, and opened new clubs for Mexican-American and 
African-American girls. Ahead of its time, the YWCA Board agreed that 
``the use of facilities be based on general fitness without reference 
to race, religion, or nationality.''
  In 1940 a Japanese Girls Reserve was formed. When the war ended, the 
YWCA assisted in facilitating the interned Japanese-Americans' return 
to the community. During these years, the Pasadena YWCA, with its 
active social conscience, led the community on issues such as juvenile 
delinquency, housing, childcare and discrimination.
  In the 1940s and 50s, programs that targeted delinquent teens and a 
childcare nursery were developed. The 1960s saw the Back Yard Mothers 
Project, the Mexican Bi-Cultural Club, the Pasadena Free Clinic, and in 
1966, the Federal Government selected the Pasadena YWCA as the site for 
its Job Corps girls program.
  The 1970s and 80s brought a Rape Advocacy Program, a program to train 
women for non-traditional jobs that paved the way for the Women at Work 
program, and Hestia House, a shelter for women and their children in 
crisis. In 1996, the YWCA Board sold the historic Julia Morgan 
building, moved into administrative offices, but continued to meet the 
needs of girls and women, never forgetting its mission to work for the 
empowerment of women and the elimination of racism.
  Today, programs like Just for Girls meet on school campuses and offer 
assistance to at-risk youth and the sports program brings together 
girls from varied economic and ethnic backgrounds. The YWCA hosts the 
annual Week Without Violence and an annual Racial Justice Committee 
Breakfast.
  I am proud to recognize the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley for its 100 
years of offering a diverse place of acceptance to the women of the San 
Gabriel Valley and I ask all Members to join me in congratulating the 
YWCA for their remarkable achievements.

                          ____________________