A Moment in Our History: Growing a Community Resource

Within the first year of organizing YWCA O'ahu, our board created ten committees covering various areas — from finance to education and membership to “social” — planning and organizing activities for our members and the community. Many classes had “educational and industrial” elements.

With the opening of YWCA, women and girls found a place where they could not only socialize but also learn new subjects

The class schedule of October, 1901 looked like this:

• Monday evening: Point and Battenburg lace work

• Tuesday evening: Current Events (Topics discussed include Assassination of President William McKinley and the question of anarchy)

• Wednesday evening: Embroidery

• Thursday evening: Music class for note reading, voice building and general vocal culture

• Friday evening: “Sewing bee” gathering for sewing and social

Two staff positions of General Secretary and “Physical Instructress” were created and financed within the first three months of the organizing of YWCA in 1900. Two women assumed those responsibilities.

Mrs. H. C. Brown: General Secretary

Ms. Lilian Bacon: Physical Instructress

Athletic performances of Ms. Bacon often became the talk of the town. (The Honolulu Republican: November 11, 1900, Fashions and Society section)

As it reflected on our first year of activities, a local paper called YWCA O'ahu “One of the most prosperous and most helpful institutions of Honolulu, and one of the city’s most elevating influences”  where the organization’s objective “to promote the spiritual, intellectual, social and physical welfare of women is most worthily carried out.” (The Honolulu Republican: October 27, 1901)

Each year, our offerings grew to meet the needs of the community. We mobilized ourselves and held classes across town in addition to holding them in our building.

Fort Street Nutrition Class. Thousands of families were touched by our classes on this important subject each year in the early days of our activities.

Rural Girls Club Exercise Class

Our class offerings covered a wide range of topics (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: August 22, 1928)

As announcemnts were made for each class, women and girls rushed to register for those that caught their interest, letting them learn new subjects and pick up skills to enrich their lives.

Class announcements often appeared in local newspapers. (The Honolulu Advertiser: September 28, 1919)

The Honolulu Advertiser: November 12, 1922

English class in 1924

To some women, YWCA was the only resource they could turn to better their lives. Here is one account by our General Secretary Lucie G. Ford who spoke in 1928 about the important work of our education department.

“Recently a Portuguse woman, aged 34 years, came into the Y.W.C.A. and stated that she wanted to learn to read and write English. How she escaped the advantages of a primary education is not known but she is now studying English. This is only one of the incidents that we are facing and meeting.”

While providing learning opportunities for women and girls of Hawai'i, more women also sought to support our work by becoming staff members. The community was often informed about their movements and activities in local news coverage. Some women moved from the mainland to join our team.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: September 24, 1923

YWCA O'ahu staff in 1941

YWCA O'ahu staff in 1956

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Elizabeth Fuller

Thousands of Hawaii’s residents, professionals and out-of-town visitors attend events, conferences, weddings or other functions in our banquet room known as Fuller Hall. Its formal name is Elizabeth Fuller Hall. Until we opened the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership (MCBL) in 2013, Fuller Hall was the only room in Laniākea that was named after a person. Since the building opened in 1927, this multi-function room has been carrying this name.

Entrance of Fuller Hall. Hundreds of events take place in the largest room in Laniākea every year.

Who is Elizabeth Fuller?

Elizabeth Fuller in 1919– Second from the right in the group photo with the members of Hawaiian Girls Club

Elizabeth was a charter member and the second president of the Hawaiian Girls Club, playing an active role in building and growing the club.  A 1917 honors graduate of McKinley High School, she graduated from the territorial normal school the following year. Elizabeth taught in the public schools while continuing to invest her time and energy towards the betterment and enrichment of the lives of Hawaiian girls. She also taught Sunday school at the Kawaiahao church.

Hawaiian Girls Club in a gymnastics class.

The Hawaiian Girls Club was introduced to YWCA through sports such as basketball and volleyball. Mrs. C. Montague Cooke, Jr. – our board president between 1930 and 1936 once wrote about the athletic competence of the Hawaiian Girls Club as she observed the club play against the YWCA team.

“Before we leave the old Hotel Street building (note: our first headquarters building), I must tell you how I tried to start a volleyball team; and asked the Hawaiian Girls Club to participate. We in the morning gym class challenged the Hawaiians to play aginst us. We thought we were the best players in town. Well, we were very soon shown that we were infants at the time.”

Hawaiian Girls Club became one of the clubs under the organization of YWCA and Elizabeth continued to play an active role.

Hawaiian Girls Club often beat other local teams in tournaments both in basketball and volleyball

Club members not only participated in our programs but also helped fundraise for Laniākea. As the capital campaign started, Hawaiian Girls Club donated $1,000 towards the creation of a new gym. Our board was touched by their generosity and decided to “Give them the choice of naming any room in the building.”

On Laniākea’s opening day in June of 1927, Elizabeth could not be there for the celebration.

Elizabeth (third from the right) with her club sisters

In addition to her athletic skills, Elizabeth was also known as a talented hula dancer and singer. She was part of an entertainment dance troupe that traveled to promote and share the spirit of aloha and Hawaiian culture outside of the United States.

During a trip to India in June of 1923, Elizabeth became ill and passed away at the age of 25.

“While she was in India, Elizabeth was told not to drink the water there but she did,” said Haulani Fuller, one of Elizabeth’s decendants who was part of Café Julia’s crew. “As she consumed the contaminated local water, she contracted cholera from that and she died there.”

When Laniākea was completed, club members chose the largest room on the ground floor and dedicated it to their beloved leader Elizabeth.

A dedication ceremony was held on November 22, 1927 in honor of Elizabeth Fuller

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: November 19, 1927

With its original wood flooring, Fuller became not only a popular spot for social gatherings but also for certain classes, especially dancing. More than 90 years after it’s opening, Fuller Hall continues to be a gathering place for the people of Hawai'i.

Hawaiian Girls Club Concert

Tap dancing class 

Saturday night dance

Fuller Hall then

Fuller Hall now

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Julia Morgan

At the time Julia Morgan was hired to work on our historic headquarters Laniākea at the end of 1924, she was not a stranger to the YWCA board. Members knew of her work with other YWCA associations on the mainland, especially in California. Morgan had also done some local work for YWCA. She was hired in 1920 to design the original Fernhurst which stood at the corner of Alapai and King, on land gifted by the Atherton Family.

Drawing of Laniākea by Julia Morgan

Morgan designed this Fernhurst building

A native of San Francisco, Morgan became the first female student to earn a degree from the architecture division of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon graduation in early 1900, Morgan returned to the Bay Area, where she spent her entire life, and began her career as an architect. During her career, Morgan designed and completed more than 700 private homes, public buildings and commercial properties.

Julia Morgan’s Beaux-Arts Student ID (Kennedy Library Online Archive/California Polytechnic State University)

Julia Morgan standing on a balcony in Paris, 1899 (Julia Morgan-Sara Holmes Boutelle Collection/California Polytechnic State University)

Upon returning from Paris, Morgan began her career as an architect. A newspaper ad in the Oakland Tribune: April 24, 1906.

Julia Morgan walking on the second floor loggia at Laniākea

Morgan’s sketch of Laniākea’s front door

Julia Morgan’s work with YWCA started with the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, CA. Morgan designed a total of 16 buildings for YWCA associations — including ours — between 1913 and 1929.

Asilomar Conference Grounds designed by Julia Morgan

Many YWCA conferences were held here over the years. Today, it is called Asilomar State Beach & Conference Grounds, part of the California State Parks system.

YWCA O'ahu delegates attending a conference at Asilomar

“Julia Morgan wanted to create a space for women and girls, especially those who were underserved,” said Betty Marvin, a long-time employee of the City of Oakland. She specializes in historic preservation and is also known for her unique historic tour of Julia Morgan buildings, told in Morgan’s voice.

“She wanted to create opportuniites for them – those women and girls who were not welcome anywhere in our society. This is why she created classrooms so that they could study and learn new subjects and exercise rooms so that they could build strong bodies. She wanted to design YWCA buildings where they felt welcome.”

While the beauty and functionality of the buildings were cherished by the YWCA associations, many faced financial challenges in maintaining them. Today, most buildings have been sold or repurposed.

San Jose YWCA building, demolished in 1973

Chinatown YWCA in San Francisco, now occupied by the Chinese Historical Society of America

Oakland YWCA sold its building in early 2000. The building now hosts dorm rooms for a local college and a charter school.

There are a few YWCA associations including us that still own and operate in Julia Morgan buildings.

YWCA Greater Los Angeles Workforce Readiness Development Program is housed in its Hollywood Studio Club. This Julia Morgan building was created with the purpose of providing safe and affordable lodging to the women working in Hollywood. Its residents included Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak and Ayn Rand:

Hollywood Studio Club opened in 1926. The building offered a spacious lobby, writing rooms, a library, a large dining area and a stage with the capacity to house 100 women.

YWCA Utah in Salt Lake City is another association that continues its services in its Julia Morgan building. The historic Peter M. and Paula Green Johnson building, designed by Julia Morgan, supports business operations and membership and advocacy efforts.

YWCA Utah is one of the few Julia Morgan buildings in existence today as an owned and operated facility of a YWCA.

Our Julia Morgan building will turn 100-years-old in the year 2027. We are proud to be the steward of this historic and beautiful place that continues to keep its doors open to the community.

Laniākea today

A Moment in our History: A Community Campaign

Our 1925 capital campaign for the creation of Laniākea was a massive operation with more than 350 people getting involved to raise the funds we needed. The goal of $350,000 was to build a brand-new headquarters in Honolulu that would support everything we were doing at that time.

The campaign of 1925 made it possible for us to create our much bigger and more prominent home —Laniākea.

The general chairman of the drive was then state senator Lawrence M. Judd, who later became the seventh Territorial Governor of Hawai'i. Speaking to a local newspaper, Mr. Judd said this campaign represented what he called “a four-year obligation” referring to earlier fund-raising plans for YWCA that existed around 1921. The paper said the reason for the postponement of that campaign was “at the request of community leaders because of immediate emergencies and the need of the Queen’s hospital annex.”

Mr. Judd sought support for the campaign citing our accomplishments in the community. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 31, 1925)

The official launch of the campaign announced. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 10, 1925)

Business, community and church leaders across town offered support for a successful completion of the campaign. Endorsements appeared in the newspaper starting in January of 1925, prior to the official launch of the campaign in February. In the endorsement below by Clarence H. Cooke of Bank of Hawaii, Mr. Cooke said the creation of Laniākea “is a sound business, a duty and privilege to help make possible a new Y.W.C.A. plant.”

Endorsements of our campaign continued to appear in the local newspapers prior to the official launch of the campaign in February 1925 including those from Bank of Hawaii President Clarence H. Cooke and first lady Mrs. Wallace R. Farrington. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 19, 1925 and Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 13, 1925)

Features of the new building include a modern swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, a games room and “adequate rest rooms.”

Thanks to the extensive preparation and early endorsement strategies ahead of the campaign, we raised a total of $392,597 – exceeding the original goal of $350,000. We accomplished this in less than one week, ahead of the original schedule. Mrs. A. L. Andrews, then board president thanked the community for the support – “We want something that will be a credit to the community.”

The campaign concluded with success. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: April 3, 1925)

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Family Matters

A few years ago, a staff member ran into my office around noon, telling me an angry man was yelling at a woman in the lobby and the woman was crying. When I rushed to the lobby, I saw a woman sitting on a chair by our member service desk with her back turned away from a man shouting at her.

Tears ran down her cheeks. Several staff members surrounded her, shielding her from the man.

She looked like a professional woman, with beautifully styled long hair, make-up that was done nicely but not overly so, and an office-appropriate half-sleeve dress. When I asked her what happened, she said her boyfriend became upset when she told him she wanted to become a YWCA member.

“He thinks it is a stupid idea. He always puts me down like that.”

The man kept yelling at her to leave the building with him. The woman refused. Our staff took her to the back office to protect her as the man’s abusive voice grew louder—leading people to rush out of the lobby or sit frozen with uncertainty.

“Sir, if you don’t leave our building now, we will have to call the police,” we told him.

The man refused to leave. He said his girlfriend had a stupid idea and she was to leave with him. While we kept the man’s attention, our staff got in touch with a domestic violence/sexual assault hotline so that she could seek help if she chose to.

“We are calling the police now.” Upon hearing that, the man turned his back and walked towards the courtyard. We followed him to make sure he left our premises through the side gate.

Our staff told the woman she did not have to be with him and she could seek support now. The woman said she understood but would not take any action now. We provided her information in case she needed to call for help when she was alone.

When I asked her if she worked in the neighborhood, she told me where she worked, a well-known local company with a long history in Hawai'i.

“Well, you are our neighbor and you know where we are. We respect your decision but please know you have a choice.”

As she regained her composure and poise, she left the building to go back to work. She returned by herself at a later date and signed up for membership.

Part of our history includes echoes of this very contemporary event—such as an incident described in a local newspaper nearly a century ago.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: September 15, 1924

The safety of women and girls has been a priority for YWCA O'ahu for more than a century. Offers of education, skill-building and even physical exercise have all been part of self-care -- helping women and girls become self-reliant. YWCA O'ahu has been a safe and secure place for them to learn and grow.

Subjects from our past classes include “Emotional Relationships between Husband and Wife” and “Parent-Child Relationships.” (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 22, 1947)

Our Placement Bureau and Employment Committee urged a safe working environment for women.

Students learning first-aid.

Within our first year of operations, YWCA O'ahu became refuge for women and girls escaping abuse and violence. Our board minutes in 1900 mention that “a Hawaiian-Portuguese girl of 14 had been brought to Mrs. Brown (General Secretary) by the Police, and her sympathy had brought out a shameless abuse by her step-parents.” Mrs. Brown secured a place in the rescue home for this young woman.

Our work must continue until every woman and girl lives a life free from violence, abuse, ridicule and assault.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Making Major Moves!

Soon after our YWCA O'ahu was founded, our board of directors spent quite some time raising funds to secure a home that would allow enough space for various activities. As a local newspaper reported in 1900:

“From its formation, the YWCA has been greatly hampered by the lack of suitable quarters….”

(The Honolulu Republican: October 2, 1900)

In the first 25 years of our organization’s history, our board launched two campaigns – the first one took place in 1915 to raise $35,000 (equivalent to more than $1 million today). Ten years later, we launched another campaign with the goal ten times larger than the first one to secure the lot on Richards Street and to build Laniākea.

The campaign of 1915 was to acquire the old YMCA building from the Elks, a structure that stood at the corner of Hotel and Alakea. Our efforts were endorsed by local businesses and organizations including the Chamber of Commerce.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporting on our campaign. (July 31, 1915)

The first permanent YWCA O'ahu headquarters on Hotel and Alakea Streets. An additional $11,600 had to be raised for alterations of the building which housed the gym and classrooms. Two pianos were also placed in the building.

We moved into the new office at the end of the year, followed by an opening ceremony in early January of 1916. More than 2,000 invitations were sent out for that event. A member of the national YWCA Board named Helen Taylor flew into Honolulu from her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio to deliver the dedicatory address.

The Start-Bulletin used its entire first page to share the news about YWCA O'ahu.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 1, 1916

The new building afforded more classrooms and the gym which soon attracted even more locals to YWCA. One record shows we had more than 2,000 members and served an average of 700 individuals a day.

Arithmetic Class in 1920.

Chinese Club Cooking Class in 1924.

Corrective Gymnastics Class in 1924.

The second campaign was focused on creating a much bigger home for the establishment of Laniākea. We formed a special committee for the task of raising more than $10 million. We also hired a fund development professional from the mainland to help make our dream a reality. 

Then Governor Wallace R. Farrington making a contribution towards our $350,000 campaign (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: February 11, 1925).

A message in the local paper seeking community support for the creation of Laniākea.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Poetry in Motion

You can learn a lot about the history of YWCA O'ahu from local newspaper archives. Thousands of stories have been written about us –and pictures can make these stories come alive.

Here are a couple of very special poems specifically written about us that appeared in the paper:

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 27, 1917.

The writer of the above poem “M.D.F.” is Mary Dillingham Frear (Mrs. W.F. Frear), who was our fourth president of the board. Just like many of our board members, Mrs. Frear was not only involved in community work, she also created her own path — following her passions, one of which was writing.

Mrs. Mary Dillingham Frear (Mrs. W.F. Frear): Fourth president of YWCA O'ahu Board (1914-1919).

Mrs. Frear, former first lady of Hawai‘i and the president of our board, was also a published author. Isle of Dreams is one of her published works.

In this piece Not a Y.W.C.A. Girl, she describes the sheltered environment many women and girls experienced in earlier days – and the assumption that somehow women needed to be “protected.” It’s one of the reasons that motivated women to create a place of their own – YWCA O'ahu – so that they could better their lives with a spirit of independence.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 27, 1917.

YWCA O'ahu used to hold events like this one – International Garden Fete - to celebrate women and girls and their ethnicity.

Through the above piece titled Our Very Little Club Girls, it is clear how our organization celebrated women and girls of various experiences and backgrounds. While this one speaks of geographic diversity comparing the memories of a locally born woman with one from New England, that spirit extends to an early embrace of ethnic diversity as well. This was all happening at YWCA O'ahu at a time of segregation and long before the civil rights movements in this country.

Mrs. Frear posing for a photo with Japanese picture brides in 1917. She is in the white dress in the first row (fourth from the left).

Korean Girls Club Play in 1923.

These writings tell a lot about the depth and the quality of work of we were engaged in to lift the women and girls of Hawaii in a climate where women’s empowerment was not fully embraced by the public. Yet we persisted and forged ahead.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Focus on Physical Well-Being

In 1900 our YWCA O'ahu was still in its infancy and our board of directors and staff were especially busy as they continued to search for a larger space for the association to meet the needs of its growing membership.

Honolulu women enjoying the parlor of the YWCA office. Membership grew fast in the first year.

Local paper describing the comfort provided by the YWCA rooms in the Elite Building. (The Honolulu Advertiser, August 1, 1900.)

One major reason for the move – to create space for women to exercise.

Almost as soon as the first YWCA office was set up in the Elite Building on Hotel Street, our board found that:

“No rooms in the Elite Building are adaptable to the Physical work as there is no water for the shower baths.”

Our decisive and responsive board quickly took action – they looked for a more desirable place. In the fall of the same year, the YWCA  moved to the Progress Building on Fort and Beretania. Our minutes relate that women and girls of Honolulu were “anxious for physical training.”

Progress Building (now called Model Progress Building) on Fort and Beretania.

Class announcements often appeared in local papers, and those seeking to exercise rushed to our office to register.

This particular announcement below is about basketball, which the paper says, “is considered one of the best means for physical development of women.” (The Honolulu Advertiser: January 2, 1902 ). As we needed an even larger space for a class like this, we also accessed the YMCA gymnasium.

Some of the early classes also included “Indian club swinging”and “Swedish movements” as well as barbell exercises and work on “the heavy apparatus.”

Although we did not have our own pool until Julia Morgan gave us one at Laniākea in 1927, swim instruction was soon added to our offerings.

Instructions and swim meets were held across town including at Castle Pool in Waikiki.

YWCA’s Chief Swimming Instructor giving tips on crawl. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: July 9, 1919.)

Swim instruction provided at Laniākea pool.

Through our class offerings, a growing number of women and girls of Honolulu developed an interest in such physical activities. Providing opportunities to them was part of the vision of our founding sisters, and they sure made that happen step by step.

More than a century later, the health and wellness and aquatics programs remain as part of our legacy programs.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: Meet our Founding Members

When you walk into our Laniākea headquarters building on Richards Street, you will find a huge portrait of a woman on one of the walls in the lobby. That is Mrs. B. F. Dillingham.

Her name is often mentioned as we talk about our history. She is one of the inaugural members of our association. It was at her cottage home at Woodlawn – the corner of Beretania and Punahou – where a group of Honolulu women eagerly gathered in the early 1900’s and discussed starting YWCA O'ahu.

Mrs. B.F. Dillingham’s cottage.

Mrs. Dillingham was not only our charter member, but also our second board president between 1907 and 1912. Her daughter, Mrs. W.F. Frear, was our fourth president, serving between 1914 and 1919 and succeeding Mrs. L. Tenney Peck whose term was 1912-1914. It was Mrs. Frear who presided over our very first meeting at her mother’s cottage.

Mrs. Frear was also our first lady – Her husband Judge Walter F. Frear was the third Governor of the Territory of Hawaii.

Mrs. W.F. Frear: YWCA President 1914-1919

Below is our first board president, Mrs. E.W. Jordan. She served in that role from 1900 to 1907.

These women also served in the pivotal role of board president in our early years:

Mrs. F.C. Atherton, YWCA O‘ahu board president 1919-1924.

Mrs. A.L. Andrews, YWCA O‘ahu board president 1924-1930.

Mrs. C.M. Cooke, Jr., YWCA O‘ahu board president 1930-1936.

Our board presidents were often seen at our events and programs. In the photo below, the woman in the white dress in the first row (fourth from the left) is Mrs. Frear, posing for a photo with Japanese picture brides.

Mrs. C. M. Cooke, Jr. (the woman pictured below with glasses) is seen at a YWCA event in 1947. These women continued to be present in the community while working to provide much-needed programs and services to help the women and girls who sought to better their lives.

It is so nice to put those beautiful faces to their names. By the way, these women also had beautiful names too:

•  Alice C. Jordan (Mrs. J.W. Jordan)

• Emma Louise Dillingham (Mrs. B.F. Dillingham)

• Elizabeth Locke Peck (Mrs. L. Tenney Peck)

• Mary Dillingham Frear (Mrs. Walter F. Frear)

• Eleanor S. Atherton (Mrs. F.C. Atherton)

• Harriet C. Andrews (Mrs. A.L. Andrews)

• Eliza (Lila) Lefferts Cooke (Mrs. C. Montague Cooke, Jr.)

Our charter members gathered in 1925 to celebrate the silver anniversary of YWCA O'ahu. Their gathering was reported in a local newspaper (Honolulu Star-Bulletin: January 31, 1925).

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO

A Moment in our History: A Gathering Place for Working Women

As many of you know, YWCA O'ahu (originally named Young Women’s Christian Association of Honolulu) was founded in 1900. Our historic headquarters building Laniākea opened in 1927.

Where did we operate until we moved to our own building on Richards Street?

The very first meeting took place at Mrs. B.F. Dillingham’s cottage. Our founders were eager to find their own place to conduct business but in the meantime they started to meet in the “YMCA Hall” located at Hotel and Alakea Streets. Our board members had a few meetings at the YMCA parlor as they searched for office space. In June of 1900, they decided to move into the Elite Building on Hotel Street. 

YMCA of Honolulu, 1900.

As they searched for the first YWCA office space in Honolulu, the board placed importance on having enough lights to make the rooms “bright and attractive.” Our board minutes dated June 4, 1900 also mention that “Inquiries for a lunch room are still coming in and it was decided that at least, our headquarters should provide a place where women might eat a basket lunch and where a cup of tea might be served.”

This suggests the inconvenience the working women of Honolulu were facing in those days. They did not have a place to hang out and relax or even have lunch.

The meeting minutes dated July 2, 1900 say, “The Directors of YWCA met in their own rooms for the first time, Monday morning, July 2, at half after nine.” It also said, “Forty-seven lunches had been eaten at the rooms and the big blue couch afforded a welcome resting place to as many girls as it can accommodate every noon.” Our headquarters instantly became a go-to place for Honolulu’s working women.

These buildings became the headquarters of YWCA O'ahu in the early days:

Elite Building.

Boston Building.

The board wanted to create rooms that are “bright and attractive”:

Meeting area.

One of the rooms was used for an English class for Japanese, Chinese and Russian women.

As the organization’s activities and services continued to grow, so did the physical space to carry out the mission. Our board did not stop its efforts to create a welcoming and warm place for women, local or from out-of-state. A place that they could call their own.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO