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Women Veterans

 

All donations will directly benefit our homeless women veterans and their children!
 
 
 

HENDERSON HOUSE

 

The YWCA's Transitional Living Center for
Homeless Women Veterans and their Children

 
Click here to read a letter from First Lady Michelle Obama about Henderson House!
 
Click here to watch our short video about the program!
 
 
BACKGROUND:  
 
The YWCA Middle Rio Grande has been serving the state of New Mexico since 1910. Currently, we serve over 175,000 women and their families. Historically, the YWCA Middle Rio Grande has taken an active role in serving veterans and their families. During World War II for example, we committed our 77-acre camp in Tijeras New Mexico (just 15 minutes east of Albuquerque) to serve as a place of respite for soldiers and their families and actively supported the wives of serviceman by providing job training and childcare.
 
Presently, we have opened “Henderson House,” a supportive transitional living facility for homeless women veterans and their dependent children. The project is the first of its kind in the nation and has been recognized as a model for the country by First Lady Michelle Obama and supported as a signature program not only by New Mexico's Congressional Delegation but by the US Senate and House of Representatives. It is hoped that it will serve as a pilot for other programs not only in our state, but the country at large, until the problem of homelessness among women veterans is eliminated. 
 
 
THE NEED:
 
There are over 16,000 women veterans in New Mexico and that number is increasing. Currently, women make up 14% of the nation's Active Duty Force, 18% of National Guard and 15% of Reserve forces. 20% of new recruits are women and 11% are also single parents - compared to 4% of military men. While the numbers of women in the military are on the increase, so are the challenges that face them when they return to the States.
 
While the transition from military to civilian life is a difficult adjustment for both male and female veterans, it is especially difficult for women. Research suggests that 81-93% of female veterans have been exposed to some type of trauma either before, during, or after   enlistment. Traumatic experiences include childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, post-traumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma. In fact, female veterans experience sexual assault at up to 12 times the rate of the general female population. These experiences have a significant impact on mental and physical health, family relationships, housing and job stability.

As a result, female veterans face a higher unemployment rate than male veterans, are 2 times as likely to become homeless than male veterans, and comprise 7% of the nation’s homeless veteran population. Moreover, the fastest growing segment of the homeless veteran population is women with children. For many, having a safe, gender-specific facility where their children can also live is essential to their successful transition into permanent housing.

OUR GOAL:


At Henderson House, the YWCA provides intensive one-on-one case management to foster educational development, computer literacy, job training, financial management, parenting and childcare classes, holistic healthcare, and stress management for our residents. Local philanthropists Don and Connie McLeod, donated a single story 5-bedroom/3-bathroom house with approximately 3,200 square feet to us for use as a transitional living facility. We then applied for, and received, a capital grant from the Federal Department of Veteran's Affairs to cover the costs of construction and renovation so that the house could meet the Life Safety Code and be ADA compliant. The program can house a maximum of 10 women veteran residents, and some of these women will have children.

   
The YWCA's Henderson House is designed solely for the purpose of providing a safe place where women veterans can pursue education, job and life skills training so that they have the necessary tools to successfully transition into permanent housing. Once residents have demonstrated sufficient mastery of life skills and self determination, achieved the fundamentals of residential stability and have enough revenue stream to support independent living, they will be ready for the transition to permanent housing and life within the larger community.
 
For each resident, plans are tailored to meet each woman's individual goals as well as customized in accordance with demonstrated abilities therefore community partners are accessed on an as-needed basis, but we have formal Memorandums of Understandings with the following primary community partners, which is another unique feature of the program: the VA and VA Women's Health Clinic, NM Veteran Integration Center, Women Veterans of NM, NM Job Corps, the University of New Mexico, the Roadrunner Food Bank, Goodwill Industries, Albuquerque Public Schools, the YMCA of Central NM, the NM Department of Veteran Services, the NM Department of Workforce Solutions, the Central New Mexico Community College Workforce Training Center, and others. 
 


HOW YOU CAN HELP!
 


 

 

The project needs significant amounts of ongoing support!

 

You can help us help those women and moms who served our country!

 

Checks can be made payable to the YWCA Middle Rio Grande, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and mailed to our office at  210 Truman St. NE, Ste. A, Albuquerque, NM 87108. You can also contribute with a credit card securely online - just click here. If you are interested in hosting a fundraiser for Henderson House, please contact Amy Whitfield at awhitfield@ywca-nm.org or 505-254-9922 x 109.

 

OUR WISH LIST : (current as of 3/6/13)

* Monetary Contributions!
* Walmart gift cards
* Albertson's gift cards
* Cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper
* Canned or frozen food (especially beef)
* Gas cards
* Bus passes
* Zoo, Aquarium, BioPark passes
* Tickets to local performances
* Movie passes
* Museum passes
* Cooking and nutrition classes for residents
 
 
*PLEASE NOTE:
Donations should NOT be directly dropped off at Henderson House. You can bring your donations to the YWCA's main office located at 210 Truman St. NE, Ste. A (on the northwest corner of Copper and San Mateo, Copper is one block north of Central). 
 
 
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR MAJOR BENEFACTORS:
 
  • Don & Connie McLeod
  • Mark & Linda Henderson
  • Albertson's
  • Congressman Martin Heinrich
  • County of Bernalillo
  • Daniels Fund
  • Daughters of the American Revolution
  • Home Depot Foundation
  • J.B. Henderson Construction Company
  • Lowes Foundation
  • McCune Charitable Foundation
  • National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
  • New Mexico Community Foundation
  • New Mexico Department of Veteran Services
  • New Mexico Veterans Administration
  • New Mexico Veterans Integration Center
  • Rebuilding Together Albuquerque
  • Senator Jeff Bingaman
  • Senator Tom Udall
  • Walmart Foundation
  • Women Veterans of New Mexico
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • USAA Federal Savings Bank
  • ABBA Technologies
  • Albuquerque Equipment and Roofing
  • Albuquerque Pipe and Pump
  • American Homecoming Foundation
  • American Legion Auxiliary
  • American Legion Post 99
  • American Legion Riders of New Mexico 
  • American Subcontractors Association of New Mexico
  • Andrea Henderson
  • Anesthesia Associates of New Mexico, PA
  • Assistance League of Albuquerque
  • Bank of the West
  • Betty Johnson
  • Blue Star Mothers
  • Bradbury Stamm
  • Brothers Electro Mechanical
  • Business Environments
  • Cheryl & Dayton King
  • Chris Hoover, Kay & Valerie Main
  • CITI
  • Con Alma Health Foundation
  • Consolidated Electrical Distribution
  • Cracker Barrel Foundation
  • Criterion Brock
  • Del Norte Rotary Foundation
  • Denise Sandoval
  • Dorothy Prior Estate
  • Doug Keaty
  • Dwight Davis
  • Encore Club
  • Enterprise Holdings Foundation
  • Goodwill Industries of New Mexico
  • Gregory Romney
  • Havona Environmental
  • HEI
  • Horses for Heroes
  • James Chapman
  • Jardineros de Placitas
  • Jill Burtram
  • Jim & Ellen King
  • John Plinio
  • Knights of Columbus Council 
  • Linda & Tom Lyle
  • Lori Pettit
  • Mama's Minerals
  • Marie Kelly Gorham Endowment Fund for Women's Issues
  • Martha & David Lilley
  • Mary Garcia Ingram
  • Michael Sanchez
  • MicroPure H2O Systems
  • Military Order of the Purple Heart
  • Natasha Ning
  • New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness
  • Paton Family Charitable Foundation
  • Patricia Sloan
  • Quota International of Albuquerque
  • Realtimesites
  • Remodelers Council of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico
  • Rio Grande Rotary Club
  • Route 66 Civitan Club
  • Samon's
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Sandia Presbyterian Church - Women of the Church
  • Sharon Payne
  • Sheryl & Paul Inglat
  • Sonia Lopez
  • Soul Candy Studio - Michelle King
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters
  • Tempur Pedic Productions
  • Thomas Parry
  • Veterans Procurement Assistance Center
  • Victoria's Secret Direct
  • Vidya Cicchini
  • Women Marine Association Sandia New Mexico
  • AND MANY MANY OTHER GENEROUS INDIVIDUALS IN OUR COMMUNITY!

 

upcoming events.
  • 3/13/2013 - Mobile Mammo Bus

  • 3/15/2013 - Healthy and Beautiful 5

  • 3/18/2013 - Mobile Mammo Bus

  • 3/19/2013 - Mobile Mammo Bus

  • 4/3/2013 - Mobile Mammo Bus

contact us.

YWCA Middle Rio Grande
210 Truman Street NE, Suite A
Albuquerque, NM 87108-1333

Phone: 505-254-9922
Fax: 505-254-9953

 
  • YWCA Middle Rio Grande
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