History of the YWCA of Regina
1930 - 1939
The desolation of those years with crop failure upon crop failure had far reaching effects upon the people of Saskatchewan. It was a period of exodus - exodus from the province to Ontario and British Columbia, from the southern plains to the northlands; from the farms and villages to the cities. In the cities, almost entire blocks of families in certain sections were on relief; people lined up day after day in queues at clothing depots and employment offices; men clung like flies to box cars, begged bread from homes near the railway yards and in 1935 rioted in the streets of Regina.
Girls arrived daily at the YWCA penniless and without jobs. There were those who were shabbily dressed, their few belongings tied in paper bundles. Some had worked as hired girls for $5 a month; others were fresh out of high school and business college. A dogged determination to remain independent, discouragement, apathy, dependency — they were all there.
In this setting the YWCA found itself with increasing demands placed upon its services and with rapidly decreasing financial resources. Through the years, the wear and tear on the building had been heavy. Now in the '30's no ready money was available for necessary major repairs. There were retrenchments in salaries, drastic cuts in expenditures but it was imperative that program services be maintained at a high level. In her report to the Board in the early '30's the General Secretary said, "There never has been a time when the YWCA has had a greater opportunity to advance the physical, social, intellectual, moral and spiritual interests of young women, or a clearer call."
The Y.W.C.A. had come by 1934 to the point that it would have to close its doors if substantial financial support did not come to its rescue. Funds raised for previous building plans had to be used for outstanding debts. It was at this precarious point that the Regina Community Chest was incorporated. The YWCA became a member of the Chest in 1935. The lessening of the administrative load in campaigning made it possible thereafter to use Association energy more constructively in meeting community needs.
The growth in girl's work was phenomenal. Evening clubs for business girls, Thursday groups for household employees flourished. Badminton, tennis, gymnastics, swimming, archery were carried on, with many of the participants unable to pay even the smallest fee.
In 1937 the old Annex, which was in a state of great disrepair, was razed and a tennis court built on its site, funds for this being taken from the proceeds of the sale of Summerholme. Picnics and outings were organized by the groups in the summer time and a stay-at-home camp for children initiated, with swimming, outdoor games, cook-outs, weiner roasts and other recreational activities.
The YWCA co-operated with the Youth Training Plan. Classes were hosted in home craft, dressmaking, hairdressing and salesmanship with special lessons given by the YWCA afterward for the students in gymnastics and swimming. The YWCA operated an employment service placing girls in household jobs.
The spectre of war was always present. In 1937 the Sino-Japanese conflict had broken out. In July 1938 the Board gave their endorsement to the recommendation circulated by the Montreal YWCA "that we request the National Council to submit to the Government a protest against the sale of raw materials for munitions to warring countries and that the National Council should find the consensus of opinion of other YWCAs on this matter so that the protest will be representative of the Dominion." In November, the YWCA pledged its support to the local League of Nations Society in any work undertaken by that body for the relief of Czecho-Slovakian refugees.
By September, 1939, Canada was at war — a war that was to revolutionize and touch deeply the lives of her womanhood.