Community Spotlight is a monthly feature that will highlight those who make a difference in our communities each day. If you know of someone in your community who makes a difference each day, and wants to be featured in the Community Spotlight, message Video News Service on Facebook.
Jamie Beedham-Rada is the Executive Director at the Genesee County YWCA, a position she has held since October 9, 2023. In under three years, Beedham-Rada has turned things around at the YWCA after it went through some tough times in 2018, closing down a lot of programs in order to save their domestic violence program. From 2018-2023, Millie Tomidy-Pepper was brought in as Executive Director to make sure that the YWCA survived.
“When the agency stabilized, Millie felt that it was her time to retire and bring in somebody who had more experience with growth and with trying to get things back to maybe where they were, or even beyond that. So, when I came in, I was a little bit overwhelmed. When I started three years ago, there was still a lot of talk and people thought the Y had closed, or they didn’t realize we were around anymore.”
Beedham-Rada has successfully brought the YWCA back into the community with many events that include the community.
At the age of 17, Beedham-Rada made it her life’s mission to make other people’s live better.
After being involved in a serious accident in 1999 as a passenger in a vehicle that went off the road, bounced off of tree, and went down an embankment on Stegman Road in the Town of Batavia, Beedham-Rada considers herself lucky to be here.
“I was told many times after that by members of the Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Department that there’s no way I should still be here,” says Beedham-Rada.
“I took that as a sign from God that I needed to do something. I’m going to take advantage of this life. If I’m still here, I need to make sure I have a purpose for somebody else and make somebody else’s life better.”
Beedham-Rada suffered a lacerated liver and spleen. She had 10 staples in her head and broke her pelvis in three places. She also had a broken shoulder and broken ribs.
“They didn’t think I was going to get to the hospital. I couldn’t lay on my side for quite some time.”
Rada says that time after the accident was really just a big blur. She says she is thankful to the couple that found the car off the road. They happened to be in the area test driving a vehicle and heard the horn and followed the sound. Cell phones were not highly used at that time, one of them stayed with Beedam-Rada and her friend, and the other went for help at a nearby home.
“If you look at the pictures, my side of the car doesn’t exist anymore, it was just a U shape, and the passenger side is gone. Both Beedham-Rada and the driver, a friend of hers, were transported by Mercy Flight to ECMC in Buffalo.
This is not Beedham-Rada’s first time working at the YWCA.
Just last month, Beedham -Rada found a reminder of her beginnings at the YWCA, her name tag from when she was in her early 20’s.
“I found this when I was cleaning in my house about a month ago. So, one of my staff put it up there (on the mantle of the fireplace). I actually started here as a Case Manager in the early 2000s, this was my first professional big girl job, and I was the case manager for domestic violence. And after I left, I continued to tell people I came in contact with, that this was by far the hardest job I ever had, but it was the most rewarding and the most satisfying when you actually helped people.”
Beedham-Rada says she became burned out as the Domestic Violence Case Manager.
“I was very young. I was 22 at the time, and I grew up in Oakfield, my past was kind of sheltered, and I didn’t realize it, like I thought the world was just this happy little bubble. So, this was my first real, what I call big girl job, where I saw the world, and it took me. It threw me for a loop, seeing what other people go through, and realizing that there are circumstances a lot of people in this world see that I’ve been fortunate to never have to see. But at the time, I think I was too young, and I loved what I did, and like I said, it was rewarding, but it also was very hard to comprehend at 22 years old.”
Beedham- Rada moved on from her first position at the YWCA in 2006.
“I went to ACE Employment on Main Street. I was there for about two years. Then I went to GCASA(UConnectCare) and I did prevention education and gambling. Actually, that was unique. I liked it. Honestly. I didn’t have a passion for gambling prevention, but I liked it because it was something new, and it allowed me to create something from scratch. And that’s where I find fun, and that’s where I find passion is taking something that isn’t quite there yet in making it a better program or making it successful.”
In 2009, she moved on as the Regional Director for Genesee, Orleans, United Way, until it split. Then went on to work a career mostly in marketing and fundraising in Rochester, but her passion was always her hometown and the people that she cared about here, and wanting to get back to her hometown.
Beedham-Rada says when she saw the position open, and even though she knew everything that was happening at the YWCA, she looked at it as a really good challenge.
“I don’t feel like I’m doing what I need to do, unless I’m creating change and making something different, making something better. I need to feel some sort of purpose in order to feel good about myself, and I knew what this program used to be and how many people that it used to help, and I hated hearing in the community all the time that I didn’t even think you guys were still around, I look at it as a challenge, but a fun challenge.”
My Sister’s Closet continues to be a big draw and is looking to move to a larger space on Main Street in Downtown Batavia. It is open Monday – Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM.
Beedham-Rada has a history with grant writing in her previous job.
“I knew that our state, and Governor Hochul are very passionate about domestic violence, so she is putting more funds to domestic violence than anybody in the past really has, and it’s opening up a lot more opportunities for us to grow. When I started, we started out kind of slow. So, we started out just with a couple grants to try to bring in a therapist and prevention education. And we got those. So, then we started that going, and then we needed offices for the counselor, we turned my old, My Sister’s Closet into office space, and we took over the Pathstone area, and we turned that into My Sister’s Closet, and that’s been going great. We’re hoping to maybe get a place on Main Street in Batavia down the road where we can actually put the Closet.”
Link to more information My Sister’s Closet – YWCA Genesee
“The Closet is great, and anybody in the community can come, and they do, but the purpose of it really is to help the survivors. So, a lot of times we have women come in here bare foot. They may have their child in their hand, they may have nothing with them, we’ve had women walk in here with socks on in the middle of winter, no coat, no anything, because they’re just trying to get away at the moment. So, the first thing that we really need to do is make sure that they are safe and that their basic needs are met, and that could be clothes. It could be making sure they have a jacket and shoes to put on their feet.”
Previously:
My Sister’s Food Pantry
The YWCA has worked on not only bringing back programs but creating new ones to fulfill the needs of the community. They recently added My Sister’s Food Pantry, serving all in Genesee County. The Pantry has grown from the small room they started in, and it has moved to the kitchen area at the YWCA building at 301 North Street.
“We were doing the pantry by word of mouth. We really weren’t doing a whole lot of promoting, we were doing like 20-30 people a month, and that was good for the amount of food that we had coming in. Then we started getting more grants that could help with food. We partnered with Foodlink, and then the government went into shutdown, and all of a sudden nobody had their benefits, and our area went into crisis, so we decided to get more active.
After the kitchen at the YWCA became available for use, the Pantry was recently able to expand.
“We decided to take over the kitchen, which was a little bit more money, but that allowed us more room to put our food in, and then through Foodlink, we had a few months while the government was shut down, that everything was free, so we started placing $10,000 orders, and we’re getting the food for free. So, we had everything packed in there. Unfortunately, the food is no longer free, but we’re still keeping it going at the same level. We’re just replenishing as we can and looking for more grants.”
During that time, the YWCA went from 20 to 30 people a month to 200 300 people a month at the Pantry.
“I know, honestly, it could be more, but we don’t have the capacity at this point. We allow for a certain number of orders to come through on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then we have to cap it because of our ability. I would love to get to the point where we don’t have to cap it, and we can still continue to serve past 300 people.”
The YWCA is also looking for volunteers to assist at the Food Pantry and My Sister’s Closet.
STRIVE/Intimate Partner Violence
The YWCA has also recently joined forces with the City of Batavia Police and other local agencies to enhance the response to intimate partner violence.
The collaborative effort is made possible by the State-wide Targeted Intimate Partner Violence (STRIVE) reduction grant, and brings together law enforcement agencies, service providers, and community organizations to enhance the safety of survivors and hold individuals who harm accountable for their actions. In partnership with the Genesee County District Attorney’s Office, Genesee County Probation, and Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Batavia Police Department and YWCA of Genesee County work to implement evidence-based strategies to address the needs of victims and survivors of intimate partner abuse and domestic violence.
“I think overall, it’s really opened doors, and it’s really made us understand each other a lot better. We’ve had to go to trainings together do team building, and it’s easier to understand their side of the story when you take into perspective what they have to go through.”
Rapid Rehousing Program
“So other programs that we’ve done are the Rapid Rehousing program, and that’s one Independent Living does. They have a grant for rapid rehousing as well, but they focus more on just the general community that is homeless. We have a similar grant through HUD, and we received over half a million dollars, and that’s for survivors of domestic violence specifically. So, I was very excited to get this grant, because this closes a lot of gaps for us, with the safe house for people in the community.”
Link to more: YWCA of Genesee County and Independent Living of the Genesee Region Secure HUD Rapid Rehousing Funds – Video News Service
Building a Board of People with Purpose
“So, one of the first the first things I started working on was the board and getting people, and we were very strategic about it, making sure that it was people with purpose and in different areas that could help us. We wanted somebody in finance, we wanted somebody in HR, we wanted somebody in marketing, we wanted somebody who had experience with nonprofits and fundraising. So, we built a board of 13 that now has women from all of these different areas of life that can bring their expertise to the board and really help us grow and become what we want to become.”
Over the next three years, the board will focus on three areas that will make the agency even better. Standard operating procedures, marketing and communications.
” We are getting the word out there. But if we could have somebody who did this on a full-time basis, or even, like influencers, or something like that, that could help really push the word out there. We have so many plans for the next couple years, as far as trying to grow and bring back childcare, possibly do a play Cafe downtown where moms and children can gather and kids can play while moms talk together. We can do meeting groups and support groups. We want to see this grow into a more community friendly, community focused agency that helps everybody, and that everybody can feel comfortable in coming to.”
(Provided photo)
The staff at the YWCA if made up of several new people and some who have been at the agency for a long while.
“They are very passionate about what they do, and I feel strongly that we have the right people in the right place at the right time, and I say that because they see and accept the exciting things that we want to do for the future. There’s no push back as far as this could be too much. Everybody’s excited. They want to see this grow. They want to help more people. They’re passionate about making a difference in this community. And when I tell you, the hearts of these women, there’s so much love and passion in this agency to make a difference. I’m very humbled and honored to be a part of this agency and to have the staff that I do and the support that is making these changes and make our making our community a better place to live.”
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The YWCA is for women in the Genesee County area and beyond, living up to their Mission Statement, being dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. The YWCA works to improve the lives of women, girls, and communities through advocacy, local programming and services.
They offer domestic violence crisis and prevention services, accessible childcare at Genesee County Family Court, and economic empowerment opportunities. Domestic Violence Hotline 585-343-7513
Link to more information about the YWCA: Home – YWCA Genesee
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Community Spotlight-Previously:
GENESEE COUNTY/Community Spotlight/Giving back, one stitch at a time – Video News Service