GUTS! Program Moves to YWCA of Missoula
GUTS! Program finds New Home at the Missoula YWCA
Dear Friends of WVE:
We are writing to share some exciting news about the GUTS! program. After many months of thoughtful analysis by the WVE management and board, GUTS! program staff and other key advisors, WVE has decided to release the GUTS! program to the Missoula YWCA. This agreement will be finalized in January 2007.
As part
of a national service organization, the YWCA provides tremendous growth
potential for the GUTS! program. The YWCA has been exploring ways to develop a
leadership program for young women, and the opportunity to adopt GUTS! fulfills
this interest and allows the organization to more fully meet its mission of
empowering women. At the same time, the release of GUTS! permits WVE to focus
more time and resources on women's environmental health advocacy within and
beyond Montana. WVE has a unique opportunity to contribute to a burgeoning
women's environmental health movement, and we have worked diligently over the
last few years to implement a strategic plan to expand our influence on a
regional and national level.
The new
relationship between GUTS! and the YWCA will not affect the existing curriculum
and philosophy of the GUTS! program. Furthermore, both WVE and the YWCA are
committed to working collaboratively through and beyond this
transition.
WVE is
very proud to have created and nurtured GUTS! over the last eleven years, and we
are confident that the YWCA will carry on this legacy. The generous financial
support from foundations, individuals, and program participants enabled WVE to
build a successful program that will help cultivate the next generation of
healthy, active and capable women leaders. We hope that you will continue to
support the women-centered programs of WVE, as well as GUTS! in its new home at
the YWCA Missoula.
If you
have any questions about this decision or would like more information, please
contact Dori at WVE (543-3747) or Jen at the YWCA Missoula (543-6691). WVE and
the YWCA Missoula will make a public announcement about this transition and will
invite you to join us for an office warming for GUTS! later this
month.
For any future correspondence with the GUTS! program, please contact:
Jen Euell
GUTS! Director
YWCA Missoula
1130 West Broadway
Missoula, Montana 59802
Thanks again for your continued support of WVE's mission and this program in particular.
Sincerely,
Dori Gilels
Executive Director
Jen Euell
GUTS! Director