The YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts (YWCA Greater Lawrence, YWCA Haverhill, YWCA North Shore Rape Crisis Center) was founded in the 1890s to aid working women and girls who came from rural areas and from overseas to work in the mills and factories along the Merrimack River. The YWCAs recognized then, as they do today, that women and families must first have shelter, safety, food, health care and child-care before they are able to become truly self-sufficient. YWCA program empower women to achieve independence. They include year-round child care for infants through 13-year-olds, a comprehensive continuum of services for victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, including and emergency shelter and longer-term residential programs. All services are free and confidential.

Civil Rights , Education , Homeless & Housing , Housing & Shelter , Mental Health , Preschools , Sexual Assault Services , Women , Womens Rights

Year-round affordable childcare for infants through age 13. Summer day camp. Relationship violence prevention education in high schools and college campuses. Direct services for victims/survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault: emergency shelter, court advocacy in Lawrence and Haverhill District Courts, counseling for child victims of sexual assault, support group (Haverhill), residential programs (Lawrence), YWCA North Shore Rape Crisis Center (Lynn), transitional housing for DV/SA survivors (Lawrence), 24-hour hotlines. Women's health advocacy services, including assistance in obtaining health insurance.

women and their families, especially at-risk women, immigrants, victims of domestic violence

Lawrence, Haverhill and across Essex County and the Merrimack Valley