Our History
WomenRising was founded as a Jersey City YWCA in May 1905 by a group of 168 women who worked at Colgate and Company.
The organization began as a membership organization with services including Bible Study classes, dressmaking classes, and residences for single women. By the end of that year, there were 550 members.
By 1911, the YWCA began getting involved in community issues. For example, they launched a campaign against unsanitary cellar bakeries and the selling of contaminated food. They also helped organize the Jersey City Health Council and the Interracial Council of Jersey City.
By 1918, the YWCA established the International Institute to assist foreign-born women and girls by helping them to understand customs laws and how to adapt to their new lives in America. The International Institute is still helping people today in their transition from one society to another. By the end of the 1920's, the YWCA had successfully raised over $1 million to construct our current home, 270 Fairmount Avenue.
During the Depression years, the YW struggled to stay solvent and provided new services that were needed including classes to help jobless women learn clerical skills and vocational guidance programs. During World War II, the Y was a USO center and supported all the women working in defense plants. The doors were open 24 hours a day to provide recreational services for women who were working round-the-clock shifts.
1950-1990's
In the 1950's, services for Black women were integrated with services for white women.
In the 1960's, the Jersey City Job Corp was embarked on by the YWCA.
Many of the services we offer today were started in the 1970's. For example, Family Support Services (FSS) began offering counseling to help families get through traumatic events. Today FSS continues to support families with counseling, crisis management, information, referrals and more.
In 1975, we opened the Group Home for Girls, a therapeutic home for teenage girls who cannot live with their families. Our Battered Women's Program also began in 1975 as a volunteer effort to provide a safe haven for women to escape their abusers. Today it is the state-designated agency in Hudson county for domestic violence services. The program offers shelter for abused women and their children, a 24-hour hot-line, and intensive counseling and support services, including a liaison to accompany and guide women through the court system.