YWCA Glendale announced it has been selected as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year by California Assemblymember Laura Friedman. YWCA Glendale is one of over a hundred other nonprofits that will be honored by their state senators and assemblymembers for their tremendous contributions to the communities they serve.

For nearly 95 years, the YWCA Glendale has been at the forefront of developing programs and solutions to address the most critical current issues. YWCA Glendale’s mission is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. Its programs include a 24/7 crisis hotline, a 16-bed domestic violence emergency shelter, a domestic violence community services center that provides case management, legal services, adult and child counseling, trauma informed childcare, and housing navigation support, a violence prevention education and outreach program, a girls empowerment program that offers after school programming, summer camp and STEAM education workshops and mentorship, and the Coalition for an Anti-Racist Glendale.

“The challenges of COVID-19 were not only to respond to the pandemic itself, but it caused a dramatic swell in domestic violence case loads as a side effect of isolation in place. We are pleased that our organization also rose to the challenges of calls for racial justice that have already led to social change. We are humbled to be recognized by Assemblymember Laura Friedman as Nonprofit of the Year for our work to advance gender equity and racial justice,” said Valerie Merritt, YWCA Glendale board president.

“The pandemic and shelter-in-place orders of the last few months have put nonprofits – usually hidden in plain sight – in the spotlight,” added Jan Masaoka, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits). “California Nonprofit of the Year is an opportunity for our elected officials to celebrate the good work they see nonprofits doing in their districts, and for everyone to appreciate the collective impact of nonprofits in our communities.”