HEELS Fundraiser

Walk In HER HEELS, our annual fundraising event, saw 350 of our friends and supporters turn out for a sold-out event in 2024.

None of us can know what it is like for the individuals seated next to us – none of us can know what their lives are like at home – what they face, what their challenges are or how they manage them. That is, until we get to know them or maybe even walk in their shoes. And so, we’ve adopted and adapted this phrase – Walk in Her HEELS. Help. Empower. Encourage. Lift. Support.

It is our purpose – our mission – to get HER back on her feet and that may mean SHE needs to shift her personal trajectory by a degree or two. Small changes now make big changes later.

Sonya lived at the YWCA from 2018 to 2020. At her urging, we started an alcohol recovery program for residents. She stayed actively involved in her own recovery and continues to be sober today. She went from resident to valued employee, instrumental in setting up group activities, helped in the Twice As Nice Resale Shop, and worked our front desk overnight.

With the help of the YW, she was able to get her Social Security disability, move to an apartment in Indianapolis and reunite with her daughters.

While she was at the Y, Sonya wrote a poem about her experience. It’s called, “Yes, Me!”

At YWCA, we think about her words in a deep way.

Today, it is our mantra.

Her words linger and inspire us and we pray they do you, as well. Watch the video above.