Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408210031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One month into her job as executive director of the YWCA of Roanoke Valley, Wendy O'Neil was guiding a United Way campaign chairman on a tour of the Y's 64-year-old quarters.
She came to a dead halt in the corner of one hallway. There, on the floor, was the ceiling.
O'Neil could have ranted about the building's crumbling condition, or cringed from embarrassment. But she said she simply "turned it into a positive," using the heaps of plaster to illustrate the need for upgrade and the money to pay for it.
O'Neil has since worked to rescue a once-opulent jewel of a building. In her four years at the helm, the YWCA building at First Street and Franklin Road in downtown Roanoke has undergone $200,000 worth of repair and renovation.
It would seem a small sum compared to the multimillions that have been poured into the renovations of some of Roanoke's other older structures.
But when your needs are great and you rely on government grants, foundation money and private donations, it is a significant chunk of change.
"For us to spread the word about what our programs and services are and what our role is has been very key in helping us attain support," O'Neil said. "We really felt that renovating the facility in a very cost-effective manner but yet pleasant living environment was extremely important.
"You know, we're not a down-pillow organization. Good foam rubber is good enough for us."
Much of the renovation was tied to a service that many YWCAs across the country have abandoned: providing transitional and emergency housing for women.
Historically, the YWCA was a kind of boarding home for young women moving from rural areas into big cities. The YWCA has continued to offer the service, modifying it to suit societal changes.
"The YWCA is traditionally known for its residence programs, but the public has completely forgotten about them," said Virginia Allison, president of the YWCA's 26-member board of directors. "In the past, when women traveled to a new city, the YWCA was a safe place for women to live."
Unused or poorly used space was reclaimed to increase the amount of housing for women and their children. An old laundry room was converted into residential space, as was a food storage room.
In all, the number of residential rooms increased from 24 to 31, O'Neil said.
Sixty gallons of patching compound went into straightening knocks and bumps in corridor walls and gaps around doorways of residential rooms. Two stacked washer/dryer units were purchased, creating a free laundry service for residents. All mattresses were replaced. Bathrooms were widened and tiled. One of every three rooms has new furniture.
"Our commitment is very much to housing," she said. "Women come here reeling from major life changes. We wanted the facility to communicate the respect we feel for the women who live here."
The women generally are underprivileged and underemployed. Some are disabled. Some are HIV-positive. Some are abused. Some are straight out of substance-abuse treatment.
And for the past year, some have been pregnant teens or teen mothers.
This spring, a second-floor board room was converted into three residential rooms for pregnant teens and teen mothers.
They have included a 17-year-old from Franklin County who is a ward of the state. The Franklin County Department of Social Services declined to give the YWCA permission to release her identity.
The young woman was the first to have lived at the YWCA while pregnant, had her baby, then returned to the Y with the baby. One pregnant teen, from Roanoke, arrived two weeks ago.
"Forty percent of pregnant teens and teen mothers in Roanoke have no safe place to live," O'Neil said. "It was just so clear that we've got an entire population of women who are not guaranteed safe housing. We wanted to be in a position to actually be doing something for these teen mothers."
Housing pregnant teens and teen mothers long has been a consideration, O'Neil said. A year ago, when she was a member of the Roanoke School Board, she and school administrators discussed housing the school system's Maternal and Infant Education Center at the YWCA. Participants - students who were pregnant or new mothers - would take classes and live at the Y.
By combining both education and residence at the YWCA, the students could be relieved of commuting hassles, O'Neil said. And many of the services the students needed - the Department of Social Services, Community Hospital, the city Health Department - are near the YWCA's downtown Roanoke location.
But the idea never got beyond discussion.
The YWCA "couldn't move fast enough," O'Neil said. The school system ended up leasing a place on Grandin Road, where students take classes and receive child care. They do not live there.
"But that did not lessen our commitment to providing housing for teen mothers," O'Neil said. "It was still a natural fit for us."
Recognizing that a one-year limit on length of stay was not enough for residents to reorient their lives, O'Neil extended it to two years. The average stay is eight months to a year, she said.
One resident is 15 months into her second two-year stay. A retiree, she first came to the YWCA in 1991 because she couldn't afford a place of her own.
Then, the interior "was in bad need of help," she said. "The third floor looked like a ghetto. There were great gobs of wallpaper gone. Furniture was falling apart."
Now, "it looks so much better," she said. "It's almost like magic. It's a real morale lifter."
The renovations were not solely done for the residents' benefit. The YWCA has 1,400 active members, plus many nonmembers who participate in Y programs.
"A new roof benefits everyone," O'Neil said. "Painting and refurbishment of the auditorium benefits everyone. Seventy-seven thermal windows benefits everyone. We want to make this place as accessible as possible."
Virginia Allison credits O'Neil with spurring improvements.
"When Wendy came, she really saw what needed doing and she did it," Allison said. "She is the driving force behind all the improvements made at the YWCA and the upcoming Bogardus Project."
The Y long has had a list of needs and a lack of money. O'Neil's aggressiveness in securing donations of goods and money and in establishing good relationships with corporations, nonprofit organizations and the community has been a boon, Allison said.
But O'Neil gives credit to civic organizations, businesses and individuals who have responded to her requests - from Appalachian Power Co.'s donation of kitchen equipment to a family donation that was large enough to furnish each resident's room with a fan.
"People have been very good supporters as we've gone through this," O'Neil said. "We have not always had that support. But I think we're getting it through increased awareness of our programs and services."
O'Neil doesn't intend to let up on her efforts until every item on her needs list has been checked off. Topping it is an elevator. Projected cost? $92,000.
"I can't wait to have an elevator," she said. "When we get one, we'll have such a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Why not? I figure we've been here since 1926 without one."
by CNB