Adult Services

Health & Wellness

Through multilingual outreach, workshops, and community partnerships, we provide education and support in nutrition, reproductive health, chronic disease prevention, behavioral health, and digital health access. Centering racial and gender equity, our Health Equity work connects people to care while challenging the systemic inequities that impact our communities.

Health and Wellness provides outreach and education to women and men regarding:

  • breast health
  • cervical health
  • diabetes nutrition
  • cardiovascular health
  • hypertension
  • prostate health
  • colorectal health
  • COVID-19

The program also provides referrals to free screening services for those who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover the cost of these services. Community Health Workers (CHWs) can facilitate educational sessions in English and Spanish. CHWs also offer transportation and accompany patients to appointments.

There is no fee for services. YWCA Southeastern MA is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization that thrives on the help and generosity of the many individuals and corporations who are willing to make a difference in someone else’s life. 

Financial Literacy

Women’s empowerment is a part of the YWCA’s core mission, and financial literacy is an essential element for life-long independence, autonomy, and freedom. Closing the wage gap is one of the YWCA’s principal goals, which is why we help hundreds of women annually gain independence through economic empowerment programs. 

 

 

 

Financial literacy workshops include: 

  • Budget basics
  • Saving
  • Retirement and estate planning 
  • Eliminating debt
  • Understanding and securing credit 

We also offer complementary workshops to help financial, professional and personal empowerment, such as

  • Professional digital communication skills
  • Google workspace
  • Securing employment in the digital landscape
  • Social media and digital literacy

We partner with financial institutions throughout the region to bring educational resources and workshops to our community. 

To schedule a workshop, please call 508-999-3255 or email DGaudalupe@ywcasema.org

Thank you to the funders and partners of our economic empowerment programs: 

First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union
Hawthorne Medical  Associates Charitable Fund
Operation MoneyWise

Widowed Persons Program

Navigating the legal, financial, and emotional challenges after losing a spouse or partner can be overwhelming. Our trained outreach volunteers, who are also widows, work with the newly widowed in support groups. 

The program is open to the widowed of all ages who are going through the grieving process, and includes those mourning long-term partners they were not legally married to. There is no fee for our service; however, voluntary donations are gratefully accepted.

Widowed Persons Program offers:

  • Outreach: Providing volunteers who are widowed to call newly bereaved to discuss their adjustments to the problems of widowhood.
  • Group sessions: Bringing the widowed together to discuss problems and provide mutual assistance.
  • Referral service: Providing widowed persons with the local services that can be of assistance to them.
  • Monthly newsletter

Sessions meet at the following times and locations:

  • First and Third Thursday of each month at 8:30am - 10am at the Dartmouth Council on Aging (28 Dartmouth St Dartmouth, MA)
  • First and Third Thursday of each month at 10:30am - 12pm at the Dartmouth Council on Aging (28 Dartmouth St Dartmouth, MA)
  • Second and Fourth Monday of each month at 10am - 11:30am at the Buttonwood New Bedford Council on Aging (1 Oesting St, New Bedford, MA)
  • Every Thursday at 7pm - 9pm at the YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts (20 South Sixth St, New Bedford MA)
  • Second and Fourth Thursday of each month 10am - 11:30am at the Westport Council on Aging (75 Reed Rd, Westport, MA)

To enroll in the program, please contact Jane Rocha at the YWCA: 508-999-3255 or at jrocha@ywcasema.org.

This program is funded by Title III – B of the Older Americans Act through Coastline Elderly Services, Inc., Sophia Romeo Trust and United Way of Greater Fall River

GRANDParents Program

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group

An advertising flyer for the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group offered by the YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts.

As a grandparent raising a grandchild, you are not alone. Approximately 2.5 million grandparents in the U.S. are solely responsible for the basic needs of their grandchildren. 

The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program offers a compassionate and judgment-free space for grandparents and kinship caregivers navigating the joys and challenges of raising children. Founded in 2007 and now supported by the YWCA, this vital community program continues to uplift, connect, and empower those who step up when it matters most.

We help all grandparents serving as caregivers access the support they need. Our services include resources, scholarship opportunities, workshops, access to our mental health services, parenting guidance, and emotional support through our support groups. Support groups and services are free of charge. 

Groups will meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6pm at the YWCA (20 South Sixth St, New Bedford, MA) 

For more information, please contact David Guadalupe at 508-999-3255 or DGaudalupe@ywcasema.org 

This program is made possible through the funding and support of Coastline Elderly Services.

The Clothesline Project

clothsline projectThe Clothesline Project is a visual display that bears witness to the violence against women. During the public display, a clothesline is hung with shirts. Each shirt is created to tell the story of a woman’s or child’s experience, by the survivor herself or by the loved ones of those who died.

The purpose of the project is four-fold:

  1. To bear witness to the survivors as well as the victims of the war against women.
  2. To help with the healing process for people who have lost a loved one or are survivors of this violence.
  3. To educate, document and raise society’s awareness of the extent of the problem of violence against women.
  4. To provide a nationwide network of support, encouragement and information for other communities starting their own Clothesline Projects.

Contact the YWCA at 508-999-3255 to organize a display of the Clothesline Project. Advance notice and ample publicity is required to ensure that the women whose shirts are displayed will not come upon the Clothesline unprepared.