YWCA Richmond

The Sprout School provides a full or part-day, high-quality early childhood education for children aged 18 months to five years old. We view kindergarten-readiness as an important tool in empowering children and families in our community. YWCA Richmond’s nationally-accredited early childhood education program uses a Reggio Emilia-inspired curriculum and sliding-scale pay model to provide affordable, high-quality kindergarten foundations to all families. Our goal is to create an environment where children will thrive, while fostering social and emotional development for families from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Our curriculum is based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment. We incorporate “play to learn” activities to teach self-regulation, early STEM concepts and curiosity. In our preschool, a child is an active learner, partnered with the teacher.

YWCA Richmond empowers survivors of domestic, intimate partner and sexual violence by providing a continuum of services intended to facilitate their transitions from a point of crisis to sustainable long-term, violence-free living. Services include: a 24 hour Greater Richmond Regional Hotline, emergency housing, comprehensive crisis intervention, individual and group counseling, case management, court accompaniment, housing and employment support, R-HART (Regional Hospital Accompaniment and Response) and financial assistance, as well as information and referrals.

Having celebrated its 37th year in 2017, the Outstanding Women Awards (OWA) luncheon is an extension of YWCA Richmond's mission to empower women. This annual event, held each April, celebrates local females of influence in the following areas: Arts, Business, Communications, Education, Health and Science, Human Relations and Faith in Action, Law and Government, Media and Marketing, Nonprofit Management, and Volunteerism.  In 2015, YWCA Richmond introduced the OWA Women's Leadership Forum as another empowering annual event to be held in conjunction with the awards luncheon. This forum features a panel of past OWA honoree discussing hot topics facing women in leadership, in an effort to inspire the next generation of outstanding woman leaders in Richmond.

In 2014, YWCA Richmond announced the Pat Asch Fellowship for Social Justice in honor of former Executive Director of YWCA Richmond and Jackson Foundation, Patricia Morris Asch. The Fellowship is designed to support the work or professional development of a woman who, like Pat, has a vision for change in her own life and the drive to make positive change in the Greater Richmond community. Consideration for this award is open to any woman who is at least 50 years of age and who resides or works in Richmond City, Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Goochland or Powhatan County.  

Through outreach and advocacy, YWCA Richmond educates community members to recognize warning signs of violence, promote healthy relationships and teach one another to stand up to violence. From workplaces to college campuses to youth groups, and awareness workshops to bystander intervention training, YWCA Richmond uses education as a tool to empower key stakeholders in our community's well-being and to eradicate violence before it occurs. YWCA Richmond's outreach team trains new advocacy volunteers to support survivors of domestic, sexual and intimate partner violence on the Greater Richmond Regional Hotline and as hospital advocates on the Regional Hospital Accompaniment & Response team. The team advocates to empower women and eliminate racism through legislative advocacy and community engagement.