Bringing it Home II

Yakima, Washington

Yakima has the highest rate of domestic violence in the state — and for years, YWCA Yakima had to turn families away because their shelter simply didn't have room.

The answer came in an unlikely form: a historic 1929 building that trained generations of nurses before its donation to YWCA in 2022. There's something fitting in that. The same halls that once shaped women who cared for others are now caring for women who need it most. YWCA persevered through years of fundraising and setbacks because they knew exactly what this building could become: a home for survivors, primarily Latina women and their children, with a dedicated wing for men with children who previously had nowhere to turn. The old dormitory rooms, built for one nursing student at a time, turned out to be perfect shelter rooms, each near a shared bath and a shared kitchen down the hall. Bright indoor playrooms give kids a safe place to just be kids, in a neighborhood with little outdoor space of its own.

The shelter is named Rocio's Place, after Rocio Ramos-Martinez, a domestic violence victim who lost her life just outside the building's front door. YWCA chose to stay close to her memory rather than build somewhere else — a reminder of exactly why this project, and their persistence, mattered.