The YWCA of Brooklyn, Inc. (YWCA Brooklyn)

Founded in 1888, YWCA Brooklyn has been a champion for racial justice and gender equity for over 130 years as the first YWCA in the country to racially integrate in 1943 and a leader in both the civil rights and women’s rights movements.

In 2009, we declined offers from developers seeking to convert our historic building in rapidly gentrifying Downtown Brooklyn to luxury housing and instead reinvested our real estate in service of our mission. Today, our work is primarily focused on the economic empowerment of women and girls of color whose paths to prosperity have been limited due to systemic racism and gender bias, ensuring they can live independent, self-determined lives, and our building is now home to:

• Over 300 women impacted by gender-based violence, homelessness and poverty who live in our permanent affordable housing units and have access to onsite trauma-informed supportive services and therapeutic programming to ensure they remain stably housed without a return to an abusive relationship or homelessness; 
• Our year-round, long-term, holistic YW Brooklyn LEAD college access and leadership program that advances the educational outcomes and economic mobility for girls of color from poverty-impacted communities to develop them into the next generation of leaders in communities of color; and 
• Our Social Justice Community Center, the last surviving community hub in Downtown Brooklyn, which provides office, event and program space for other grassroots nonprofits, helping them to broaden their scope and reach,. 

We are a nonsectarian 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit organization that receives no financial support from our association with YWCA USA, nor are we affiliated with any other YWCA in New York City.