Des Moines

The Young Women’s Resource Center holds After School Groups for participants in 5th to 12th grades in the Greater Des Moines area. These groups seek to foster a healthy body and mind by allowing girls to participate in a variety of hands-on activities.

Black Girl Magic After School Group provides a space for Black girls/young women to find support, connect with peers, and explore who they are! Those who identify as Black and/or African American, and are entering 8th ‘ 10th grades in fall 2021, are invited to join group.

Connections is an ongoing therapeutic group focused on positivity and building healthy relationships. With the pressures and expectations that young women must face daily, it’s easy to let anger and frustration shut out those who are most important to us. Many young girls simply need someone to talk to and reach out to them. That’s what Connections is about. This year-long ongoing program focuses on anger management and impulse control and allows young women to share what they’re dealing with in a safe space.

The Young Women’s Resource Center provides access to Mental Health Counselors for one-on-one or group sessions to participants. Sessions may also include their partner and/or family in sessions. Counseling sessions are a place to experience supportive and safe spaces to discuss any issues participants are dealing with in their lives or any topic they choose. These free, voluntary and confidential services give participants a safe place to talk about whatever they are going through, to be listened to and be accepted for who they are.

The word ‘doula,’ in the Greek language, means ‘mother to the mother.’ The Doula Program provides a mentor and birth coach to pregnant and parenting young women. Doulas provide emotional and practical support during pregnancy and continued mentoring after the baby is born.

The Center provides a service to a growing number of young women involved with the justice systems. Groups serve young women at different levels of involvement. The groups offer a kind of support and education not always found in the justice system. Currently three groups meet weekly at the Center.

These groups function as part therapy and part education/skills-training. The cognitive-behavioral therapeutic approach used in group encourages young women to evaluate their behavior and examine the contingencies controlling their interpersonal lives. They are taught how to understand and correct negative thought patterns, which clears the way to learn new behaviors that lead to a successful life. The education/skills-training component offers women information and coaching in life areas that include but are not limited to drug prevention, drug intervention, anger management, and techniques for coping with mental health and relationship issues.

The Little Passengers Car Seat Safety Program classes are held at the Young Womens Resource Center. Classes are offered to program participants who are pregnant or parenting and to members of the general public. This program offers education on how to properly install car seats. The class consists of a video and instruction on how to use the seat correctly. The parent is required to install the seat in their vehicle while the instructor observes. Upon successful completion of the class a car seat is awarded at no cost to participants that demonstrate financial need. The classes are offered in English and Spanish.

Lotus is a program that explores creative expressions like painting, music and more to build self-esteem, healthy relationships and resiliency. Lotus is designed for girls and young women who have experienced trauma such as physical/sexual abuse, harassment, dating violence or who have been impacted by domestic violence.

The Lotus program offers individual and/or group experiences designed to minimize the negative impact of abuse on participants’ bodies, minds and futures. The goal of this group is to guide clients to gain insight to their thoughts, feelings and behaviors while building resiliency, self-esteem, coping skills and healthy relationships

Mariposa is a Latina/Latinx leadership group designed exclusively for middle and high school girls in the Des Moines area. This group focuses on exploring experiences in a safe, accepting and friendly environment. It is a place where young women can celebrate their Latina/Latinx roots and heritage.

Young Women’s Resource Center holds weekly classes for pregnant teens and young women where they can participate in discussions and activities while gaining valuable information and support that can often be hard for pregnant teens to find. These groups are for women at any stage of their pregnancy and are a place for young women to benefit themselves and their unborn children. Participants can learn about labor and delivery from a certified childbirth educator and doula.

The program is based upon the 3 R’s national campaign through Advocates for Youth which states that teens have the Right to accurate and comprehensive sexuality information, teens deserve Respect from adults and the community, and that the community has the Responsibility to provide youth with the tools they need to be safe and with these tools, youth are able to make Responsible decisions.

R3 members are trained as peer educators and role models. The members provide education to middle school and high school groups on healthy relationships and decision making skills through activities, games and skits. The education is age appropriate, comprehensive and science based.

YWRC has joined with a national organization Darkness to Light to provide Stewards of Children, a revolutionary sexual abuse prevention training program that educates adults and encourages them to be more courageous about speaking out and acting responsibly to stop child sexual abuse. This training is for any organization that works closely with children and youth. Certified staff is available to facilitate this training to the greater Central Iowa Community.

Are you seeking training for staff and volunteers in the prevention of child sexual abuse? Wanting to make a difference in your community by educating adults about the protection of children?

Please call the Center at (515) 244-4901.

These groups are for persons who have experienced sexual abuse and/or dating violence. Groups are in collaboration with Polk County Crisis and Advocacy Services (PCCAS). During the academic year groups meet weekly at area schools. The groups are support-based and young women are educated on effective coping skills, healthy relationships and victimization.

A young mother may not have all the support and information she needs to nurture her baby and herself. The Young Mom’s program is based on the belief that we can share and learn from each other. Parenting education, support, resource and referral services are provided to pregnant and parenting young women, the program assists in minimizing the obstacles that arise in daily life. The Young Mom’s curriculum provides education in the core elements of parenting such as:

•Child Guidance
•Parental Expectations
•Empathy/Awareness of Child’s Needs
•Family Management
•Parent-Child Role Reversal
•Increasing Child Independence
•Child Health & Nutrition
•Keeping Education in Your Sight (KEY’S)
•Heart to Heart
Educational information is delivered in a group setting that emphasizes peer support. By sharing challenges and experiences, young mothers are encouraged to make enlightened choices to foster life skills and independence. In adhering to the mission of the Young Women's Resource Center, advocacy skills are of the utmost importance when educating young women.

Problem Solving groups are designed to inform, educate and provide peer support. These groups meet in local elementary and middle schools during one class period weekly for 6-8 weeks. Using the Girls Circle Curriculum, topics discussed include: body image, self-esteem, relationships (friends, family, dating) and reproductive health. Problem Solving is one way the Center works with the school to attend to the critical emotional, social and behavioral needs of young women to help them succeed in and out of the classroom. Girls may filter into ongoing Problem Solving groups after school at the Center.