Fort Worth YWCA changes name to Center for Transforming Lives

Helping women and families out of poverty has long been the mission of the YWCA Fort Worth & Tarrant County, but not enough people make the connection when they hear the non-profit’s name.

“A lot of people don’t know who we are,” said Carol Klocek, the YWCA’s chief executive director, explaining that people often confuse them with the YMCA, which is a separate organization.

That disconnect prompted a name change.

The YWCA Fort Worth & Tarrant County announced Friday that it is becoming Center for Transforming Lives. The new name includes a butterfly logo aimed at depicting the idea that lives are transitioning out of poverty, Klocek said.

“We wish the YWCA the best with their transition to a new name and applaud the crucial work they do with women and children in our community,” said Hope Caldwell, spokesperson for the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Mayor Besty Price and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley helped unveil the new name for the community during an open house Friday.

“I think changing lives — really transforming them — is what they do best,” Price said of the name change. “The community will embrace it.”

The YWCA’s 21-member board of directors voted for the name change during a September meeting. People will soon start seeing the non-profit’s letterhead and revamped website. The sign outside the downtown center, at 512 West 4th St., will receive a makeover that protects the historical structure, but announces the new name.

The YWCA, based in downtown Fort Worth, began as a boarding house, cafeteria and employment bureau for women more than 100 years ago. Last year, the non-profit served 2,300 women, children and families through housing, child development and financial empowerment programs.

People can expect the same grassroots focus as the center continues its mission to help struggling families overcome poverty, Klocek said. Under the new name, the non-profit will no longer be affiliated with the national YWCA, which is largely seen as a political advocacy group.

“This will allow us to directly match the need of the community with our mission,” said Lisa Grady, board chairwoman.

Helping more families

The Center for Transforming Lives offers early childhood education and child care at three development centers, in downtown Fort Worth, the Polytechnic Heights area and Arlington.

Those offices and child development centers will remain open.

“Our core issue ... it is and always has been about helping women and children in poverty,” Klocek said.

Deniese Neal, 54, said the non-profit helped her come back from homelessness when she fell on hard times.

Neal received emergency shelter and training so she could find work.

“This is one person whose life was transformed,” Neal said.

The idea for a name change emerged after the non-profit was deep in strategic planning in 2013, Klocek said. Census figures indicated that about 94,000 women and 126,000 children live in poverty in Tarrant County. But the YWCA was only meeting the needs of about 700 to 800 individuals, she said.

“That is really not enough,” she said.

The non-profit, which has an annual budget of about $6.8 million, wants to serve 10,000 women, children and families by 2023.

But in order to accomplish this goal, the non-profit needs to grow as an organization, gain more financial support and build awareness of who they are. So they decided to change the name.

“This will be a good fit with the local philanthropic community,” Klocek said. “In Fort Worth and Tarrant County, we like to take care of our own.”

Changing the brand

Surveys indicated that people didn’t really know their brand, Klocek said. That notion is well-known at the center where they often field calls from people asking for pool hours or write checks payable to the YMCA.

At the front desk, confused callers often didn’t understand what the YWCA did.

The new name explains the non-profit’s purpose, Grady said. It also aims to help the non-profit separate itself from the YMCA, which is a well-known brand, she said.

“We ran into a challenge with our identity. We were associated with the YMCA, which does great work but is totally different,” Grady said.

Caldwell of the YMCA said that organization too has experienced people or organizations that are confused about the two organizations.

“While our names have been similar, our missions are very different,” Caldwell said. “The YMCA’s cause is strengthening community which is accomplished through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.”

The local YWCA served the community as a standalone non-profit. However, the organization paid about $36,000 in dues to the national organization, Klocek said. The national organization didn’t have a centralized support infrastructure that the local group could use, she said.

“We didn’t get any money,” Klocek said. “We paid them dues.”

Plans are to put this year’s dues directly into the Center for Transforming Lives.

Name change makes sense

Klocek said the primary benefit they had in belonging to the national group was the historical ties. The YWCA of Fort Worth was organized in 1906 by two women who worried about young, single female workers who didn’t have the means to be in “a safe Christian environment,” Klocek said. On Aug. 2, 1907, YWCA Fort Worth was chartered, making it the first YWCA in Texas.

At the downtown Fort Worth offices, the name won’t completely disappear as it will remain on the historical building.

The name change makes sense to Crystal Thompson, a single mother who received assistance through the center’s programs and now works as a receptionist at the non-profit.

“I think it is really fitting — especially for everything we do here,” said Thompson, who received emergency housing and learned to manage her own finances at the YWCA. Today, she is a student at Tarrant County College, saving money and buying a pickup truck.

“I know what this company represents,” Thompson said. “I know what it does.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Fort Worth YWCA changes name to Center for Transforming Lives."