Published December 2005

YWCA helps women
build ‘brighter futures’

By Linda Thomas
Special to SCBJ

Ellen Rush won’t star in any of the new reality television shows this fall, but she is a star example of how the YWCA helps women transform their lives.

Rush’s real drama started at the age of 15 when she became pregnant. A year later, her father, a minister, kicked Rush and her infant son out of the family home.

At 19, Rush married a man she described as “violent and abusive” and had a second child.

“I had no confidence and was emotionally broken at that point. I convinced myself that love from an abuser was better than no love at all,” she said.

Throughout the five-year marriage, Rush said she fell into a pattern of trying to stand up to the abuse by leaving with her children, only to find herself crawling back to her husband because she had nowhere else to go.

“After a while, I decided I didn’t like being called stupid in front of my kids,” she said. “A major defining moment in my life was looking at my choices of abuse or homelessness and deciding it was better to be homeless.”

Rush struggled on her own until she was referred to a YWCA housing program in Redmond.

Photo by Linda Thomas The YWCA received more than 7,000 calls for help with housing in Snohomish County last year. Regional Director Mary Anne Dillon (at left) said they offered housing to 509 families, including 855 children.

“I can’t speak enough about the value of YWCA services,” she said. “They totally empowered me. It wasn’t a handout, but it was a helping hand up. I still had to do all the work.”

Client success stories help Mary Anne Dillon persevere through some challenging, long days in charge of Snohomish County’s YWCA programs.

Dillon, originally from New York, has been with the nonprofit agency since 1997 and became the regional director for Snohomish County in July of this year.

“I like to think of our services as being like a spa,” Dillon explained. “There’s a full menu of classes you can attend, counseling appointments you can easily get to, referrals we can make and employment services. Women can come and take a respite from their lives and start building brighter futures.”

YWCA programs served more than 14,000 Snohomish County residents in 2004 with everything from mental health counseling to parenting classes.

Dillon said the majority of calls to the YWCA are from women who need emergency or transitional housing.

Last year, the YWCA provided housing for 509 local families. That number will increase with the September 2005 opening of Trinity Place — a 24-unit apartment building in Lynnwood for homeless women and their families.

Trinity Place is a collaborative project between Rick and Anne Steves, owners of Europe Through the Back Door (based in Edmonds), the Rotary Club of Edmonds and the YWCA.

Rick and Anne Steves purchased the building and will let the YWCA operate it for 15 years. Rotarians are taking care of landscaping and building maintenance.

Meanwhile, Ellen Rush’s extreme life makeover continues. Rush, now 24, works part time, takes college classes and speaks on behalf of the YWCA.

Everett dentist Dr. Amy Norman was inspired after hearing Rush speak at the YWCA’s annual luncheon in Everett earlier this year. Norman offered free cosmetic dental services to Rush, who wants to become a television broadcaster.

“Oprah’s job looks very attractive,” Rush said with a lighthearted smile. “I’d like to follow in her footsteps. I have so many goals right now, but the most important is to be a loving mother to my children.”

Linda Thomas is a free-lance writer based in Seattle.

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