History of the YWCA of Regina
World War II - 1945
The mobilization of resources geared to wartime needs brought about a wholesome migration of people - - of service personnel, their wives, friends, families, evacuees, brides from overseas, civilians, in essential service. Full employment, higher wages, good prices for wheat, made for economic security but such mass dislocation contributed to social problems, family breakdown, delinquency. Always there was an underlying sense of urgency, of fear and anxiety. Those years with their transitory human relationships became the testing time for human values and placed heavy pressure on the YWCA and other community organizations.
Almost overnight, women were holding priority jobs in business and industry. Married women experienced satisfaction on the job which they had not found within the home; older women received recognition, often for the first time, of their skills; teen aged girls drew salaries as large, or larger, than their mothers. Women as volunteers made remarkable contributions to the total war effort, without losing sight of their responsibility to their immediate community.
War was hardly declared when the Regina YWCA Board of Directors offered the services of the Association to the Canadian Red Cross. The following spring, the Travelers' Aid committee took up the question of suitable housing for soldiers, their friends and relatives. Fortnightly dances were held at the YWCA for soldiers and airmen; courses were given on how to be a good hostess; service wives and Mr. and Mrs. Clubs were organized. There were weddings in the club room and cooking lessons in the cafeteria for prospective brides. YWCA members worked in the canteen and sponsored dances at the Hostess House; club girls knitted for the London YWCA, put on concerts and other special events in aid of the Milk for Britain Fund and of Mrs. Churchill's Fund for British women in uniform, and visited patients in military hospitals. The Association gave its wholehearted support of war savings stamps and bonds, designating a Board member as their Miss Canada.
First orders were posted in early October 1941 for the Regina platoon of the Canadian Women's' Army Corps. Girls were billeted in rooms made available through the YWCA and Sacred Heart Academy. They were given the free use of the YWCA swimming pool, gymnasium and club rooms. Firesides were open to both men and women of the services.
Passenger traffic in 1941 was the heaviest in the history of the Canadian railways. The milling crowds of people in the Union Station brought problems in greater number to the Traveller's Aid. The young wife could not locate her husband at barracks; the country girl, bewildered by so much confusion, was looking for a housework job; the tired woman with a new baby in her arms and three other small children at her heels needed housekeeping quarters. In the little while left before her husband would go overseas, they hoped they could be together again with their family.
The YWCA building hummed with the activity. At all hours the lobby was crowded with people looking for a place for a night until they could find more permanent quarters. There were times when not a single bed or chesterfield was available in the house, when women were grateful to be able to sleep in an easy chair or on a gymnasium mat.
The securing of rooms listings soon became too heavy a job for a volunteers and finally in 1941 a room registry office was set up in the YWCA with staff on part time basis and financed through the National War Finance Committee.
In 1943, the President of the national YWCA, visited Regina. Mrs. Agnew had been commissioned by the Dominion Government to supervise the housing programme of the consumer branch of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. Her job, as she travelled across Canada visiting every city and large town, was to organize a voluntary registration of Canadian homes for the purpose of making the greatest use of all available space.
A housing committee was set up in Regina under the consumer branch and a full time rooms registry office opened at the YWCA. Advertisements in the paper of the Regina Area Housing Registry read, "There is an urgent and desperate need for spare rooms, attics, second floor flats - - anything which can be converted into family dwelling units. Nothing is too small or too large. Remember - the need is urgent!" There was a continual stream of people at the registry office. Families faced eviction charges. Service wives with small children were living at auto camps.
The united effort of volunteers was evident throughout the period, - - in the appeal for the organizations doing important war work on the home front and on the battle front, the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Legion, Salvation Army, YWCA and YMCA, Knights of Columbus, I.O.D.E. and the Navy League of Canada; in the work of the Women's Volunteer Services, the Local Council of Women and of the consumer branch of the Wartime Prices and Trade board in its fight against inflation.
Co-operative effort came too, into the development of community recreational services. Juvenile delinquency made headlines during the war years. Increased delinquency amongst young girls was a particular concern to the YWCA. The recommendation to appoint a policewoman was turned down by the police commission. Organizations were questioning the supervision of public dance halls. In 1944, the teen agers approached the mayor in an urgent appeal for a "hostess club of their own." As a result, supervised Saturday night dances were held in the city hall auditorium, permission having been given by the Mayor. Dances were promoted by the Children's Aid Society, Handicraft House, The Regina Welfare Bureau, the YWCA and the YMCA. A summer program of swimming lessons and meetings for school children was held at YWCA and YMCA.