Originally found as the Young Women’s Christian Association, YWCA doesn’t have this abbreviation any more. Prime reason for this is that YWCA’s staff and people are not all young, women or Christian. The name has been retained in order to maintain brand equity. Though YWCA is independent of the YMCA, still many local YMCA and YWCA associations have merged into YM/YWCAs or YMCA-YWCAs. The YWCA is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of girls and women. It has been consistently sponsoring programs like a National Day of Commitment to Eliminate Racism, Week Without Violence and the National Women & Girls in Sports Day. It is crucial to know that the YWCA of the City of New York was originally started in 1858 and was based on an idea already developed in London a few years earlier. The mission of YWCA was to provide safe housing and educational resources for young women- both USA and foreign-born. YWCA is considered an excellent initiative to handle extensive social movements ranging from women’s empowerment and civil rights to violence prevention, affordable housing, pay equity and health care. You may also like : February 10 1258 – The Mongols Conquer the Abbasid Caliphate and Seize Baghdad February 10, 1962 – American Gary Powers, pilot of a downed U-2 spy plane, is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel