YWCA comes alive on campus
Thanks to last year's
funding increase, the
group is planning new
programs and activities
By Michael Hines
Student Activities Reporter
The University YWCA is reach
ing out to University students and
the community after several years
of little activity.
The association received a 46.1
percent funding increase from the
Student Senate last year, and that’s
part of the reason for the new activ
ity, director Carissa Betancourt
said.
“They gave us money,” she said.
“Now they want to see results, and
1 think we will [oblige].”
The YWCA has outlined three
major programs it wants to work
on, which are being headed by re
cruitment coordinator Leo Alfon
so.
Two of the programs involve
mentorship in elementary schools.
One, called Start Making a Read
er Today, is a state program, and
the YWCA is recruiting volunteers
to read to elementary children at
schools around Lane County.
The other, called the Lunch
Buddy program, involves Willag
illespie Elementary School near
Valley River Center. University
students who become involved are
expected to visit a student every
week through May.
"I think it’s important that we fo
cus on children’s education, espe
cially at a time when funding is be
ing cut,” networking coordinator
Belinda Vivier said. “That’s pretty
important that we see these stu
dent mentors coming in and taking
the time out of their lives and dedi
cating that time to personal in
struction to children.”
Vivier attended a youth summit
conference a month ago at the Lane
County Fairgrounds, where she
learned that students who have
had mentors in the community be
come high achievers.
“A lot of children need good
models in their lives,” she said.
“Children could be experiencing
crisis. They might not have the
proper role models. They might
have parents that don’t know how
to parent. Having a good mentor
can really impact their life.”
Promoting literacy is one of the
association’s goals. The YWCA —
which has been a University fix
ture for almost 100 years — pro
motes the empowerment of young
women and the elimination of
racism and discrimination, Alfon
so said.
However, she said, the associa
tion is not only for women, and
men are encouraged to volunteer
in any of the programs.
The third program that the
YWCA is working on is the Safe
Buddy program. The program is a
revised version of a proposal An
drew Oberriter presented to Uni
versity Housing last year.
In conjunction with the Univer
sity Office of Public Safety, the
YWCA wants to offer the Safe Bud
dy program, a walking escort ser
vice. Students could call the ser
vice, and two volunteers would
walk them to their destination
within 10 blocks of campus. The
program will require about 100
volunteers, Alfonso said.
The Student Senate granted the
YWCA funding to buy a new print
er in Wednesday's session, and
members said that is another step
forward in what they believe will
be a successful year.
The YWCA is once more an ac
tive campus group, Alfonso said.
“We're here. We’ve got new peo
ple working,” she said. “We’re
alive again.”
Campus Briefs
Civil War tickets
already sold out
You’re three days too late if
you’re looking for Civil War
tickets.
University ticket offices sold
out of student tickets Tuesday,
assistant ticket manager Colleen
Standiford said.
Unused student tickets be
come available for friends and
families the Tuesday before
every home game, Standiford
explained. After that time stu
dents can pick up tickets for
themselves or buy tickets for
friends and family.
This time, though, friends and
families bought up the last of the
6,000 student tickets, said
Rachel Astrella, in the EMU
Ticket Office.
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