levi standish house

ywca southeastern massachusetts
capital campaign: case for support 


elevation along south sixth street



The YWCA: Nationally Recognized While Regionally Necessary and Accomplished
YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
 
As the only YWCA south of Boston, this YWCA serves an area that stretches from the Rhode Island border east to Provincetown and north to Attleboro, Brockton and Plymouth; a region that encompasses 37 diverse municipalities. Yet at the core of its service area is Greater New Bedford, a region whose populations continue to suffer economic and social distress. As such, and since its founding in 1911, the YWCA has been dedicated to all women and their families.

A majority of our constituents reside below the poverty, economic and educational attainment levels of the state and nation. Prevailing characteristics of the YWCA’s constituents include domestic violence, incarceration, single-parent settings, substance abuse, and low-income status.

The YWCA provides programs and services within five concentrations: Advocacy, Adult Services, Youth Services, Wellness for Women and Girls, and the Women's Collaborative Project. Initiatives such as "ENCOREplus", a signature activity of YWCA’s nationwide, has provided outreach and education to almost 15,000 women recovering from cancer in the YWCA’s service area. The "Widowed Persons Program" is the only series of support groups for persons who are newly widowed in Greater New Bedford. 

The YWCA’s key achievements in recent years include:

• The adoption of a new and progressive Three Year Strategic Plan in 2008.

• The demonstration of stability and continuity with the transition of its Executive Director, Yvonne Drayton, after a 17-year tenure, to the current Executive Director, Gail Fortes, with 15 years of dedicated service to the YWCA. The YWCA also benefits from 30 bilingual and bicultural staff members, 75 volunteers (many of whom are women served by the YWCA), and a dedicated and energized Board of Directors.

The Problem: Barriers to Access as well as Deteriorated, Costly and Unsafe Rentals 
The YWCA is faced with extreme challenges that make it difficult to expand and maximize the effectiveness of its programs, and strengthen its financial stability. These deepening issues include:

• Restricted handicap accessibility to the Levi Standish House, the YWCA’s primary program and administrative facility, coupled with outdated systems and under-utilized interior and exterior spaces.

• Two deteriorated and outdated rented facilities that accommodate the YWCA’s after-school and summer childcare program and its women’s residential program resulting in (1) an increasing financial burden, (2) shrinking enrollment, and (3) a decreasing effectiveness for those at-risk women and children who remain in these programs. These two facilities are simply no longer positive learning and nurturing environments and remain difficult to appropriately supervise.

These negative attributes characterize the property rented for the YWCA’s childcare program:

• Restrooms are outdated and unreliable
• Heating system is failing and there is no cooling system
• Antiquated fire safety systems
• Poor lighting system
• Lack of natural light, bars on the windows perpetuate “institutional” feel
• Program spaces have old floor, wall and ceiling treatments
• No computer lab or library space
• Limited program office and storage space
• No exterior space for recreation
• Limited handicap accessibility
• Location is in a high crime area and far from the YWCA’s main facility

These negative attributes characterize the property rented for the women’s residence:

• Restrooms that are outdated and unreliable
• Common kitchen and appliances are outdated
• Common living and dining spaces are too small
• Sleeping arrangements are no longer appropriate for the population
• Heating system is failing and there is no cooling system
• Antiquated fire safety systems
• Lighting and electrical systems are inefficient
• No staff supervision office space
• Location is in a high crime area and far from the YWCA’s main facility


The Solution: A Remodeled Levi Standish House and Construction of a New Addition
In order to expeditiously resolve these problems, the YWCA has moved into the next phase of its $4.8 million capital campaign with a $4 million fundraising drive for the construction of an approximate 12,800 square foot addition onto the Levi Standish House at 20 Sixth Street.

The completely refurbished Levi Standish House and newly constructed addition will allow for site and program consolidation into a high performing, center-city campus achieving these positive affects on the YWCA:

• Creating a healthy, positive and barrier-free environment for staff, volunteers, collaborators and constituents with nurturing and safe spaces for our childcare and residential programs.

• Building adaptive spaces to accommodate new and expanding programs and services, such as the intended establishment of a Women’s Resource Center and a Drop-in Childcare Center, thus accommodating growth and an opportunity to better serve our constituents.

• Establishing a predictable and controllable financial model for our programs, operations and maintenance, and long-term capital improvements to our owned asset.

• Maximizing the utilization of space within the property bounds, as well as the highest level historic preservation and improvements to our valuable asset.

• Strengthening our position in the community as a relevant and progressive membership association that continues to evolve to empower all women, as well as those at-risk and disadvantaged populations, within our service area.

Building upon significant board participation, major investments from the State of Massachusetts and the City of New Bedford, and impressive community support for the first $800,000 phase of our capital campaign, the YWCA has now assembled a new Capital Campaign Steering Committee to reach a fundraising goal of $4 million to be raised within a 2.5 year timeframe in order for the campaign to conclude in 2011, the 100th anniversary of this YWCA.


For more information please contact: 
Gail M. Fortes, Executive Director           
YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts        
(508) 999-3255            gfortes@ywcasema.org

David F. Guertin, Jr., President 
Vantage in Philanthropy, Inc.         
(401) 619-3990           david@vantageinphilanthropy.com 
      

view from school street towards east entry



view from the corner of south sixth street and school street




levi standish house building addition: 1st floor plan - yw kids school age child care



levi standish house building addition:2nd floor plan - women & teen resource center



levi standish house building addition: 3rd floor plan - women's residential housing





Architecture, Interior & Planning by:
Litman Architecture

---

a brief history

Myles Standish and his second wife Barbara were married in 1623. Myles served under Governor Bradford, but truly Myles had foresight and great leadership for he is one of the participants in the incorporation of the township of Dartmouth. That township became Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford and Fairhaven. Myles and Barbara had six sons and one daughter.

Levi Standish was a seventh lineal descendant, who was preceded by (1) Myles, (2) Alexander, (3) Ebenezer, (4) Zachariah, (5) Ebenezer and (6) Shadrach. Levi Standish was born in Westport, Massachusetts in 1779. He was the son of Mary Churchill and Shadrach Standish. Shadrach had served during the Revolution in two Rhode Island campaigns.

In 1805, Levi married Lucy Randall and they had three children - John Avery, Angelina and Lucy. Levi was in business in Westport with John Avery Parker, who was financed by Mr. Lemeral Milke, a wealthy ship builder.
John Avery Parker married Levi's sister, Averick. Later he married John Avery Standish's daughter Emma after Averick's death. John Avery Parker became quite wealthy in Westport before moving to New Bedford. In the City of New Bedford, he built the Parker House, a hotel and later a mansion on Pearl Street. John Parker became the first president of the Merchants' Bank and a New Bedford millionaire.

Levi Standish followed John Avery Parker to New Bedford and bought the southwest corner James Howland's lot (20 South Sixth Street) for the sum of four hundred fifty dollars. Levi built a red brick Federal style mansion on the property starting in 1825 that was to house his wife and three children. The mansion would remain in the family until 1916. He financed the cost of construction through his ship building in Westport and his grocery store at the corner of Main Street (Union) and Front Streets. There were a number of whale ships registered in Levi's name including: Phoenix, Packer and Victory.

At Levi's death in 1843, the house was willed to his son John Avery Standish, who was born in New Bedford on September 11, 1804. He married Emiline Bourne and from this union came Emma (who later became the wife of John Avery Parker), John Avery, Rose, Myles and Levi.

According to an 1855 Tax Record, this John Avery was very prosperous in the whaling trade. He owned two other houses and three stores along the waterfront. He owned shares in 12 whaling ships as well. John Avery left his estate to his five children in a will drawn up shortly before his death on January 13, 1865. Rose's and Emma's (portion of the estate) to be kept in trust and invested by their brother, John A. Standish and the lawyer, Oliver Prescott. Myles, John Avery and Levi were each to share in the boats, stores and the house. Later, Levi died and the women, Rose and Emma, sold their shares to brother Myles. Myles settled with his brother, John's widow, so that at the time of the (New Bedford) Women's Club purchase, the house was in the possession of Myles.