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Welcome to WCA Foundation |
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| The Founding Women In 1866, when Minneapolis was a boomtown facing growing social problems, 20 women met to found the Christian Aid Society of Minneapolis for the purpose of "providing for the temporal and spiritual wants of the destitute, irrespective of age and color." Their first project was soliciting clothing for freed slaves. In 1873, the organization was incorporated under a new name - the Woman's Christian Association of Minneapolis. | |
Diverse Early Years The WCA was the first society for the relief of the poor in the City and undertook a number of charitable endeavors, some of which were actually dangerous. But the women members were resolute in their commitment, and their influence was gradually felt across the city. They hired a City Missionary who visited the poor and distributed food and clothing to the destitute. When they learned women were thrown into prison without regard for their dignity or modesty, they hired a police matron to work with women prisoners. They operated the Industrial School for Girls, where young women learned a trade, founded a retirement home, trained nurses during World War I and helped found the first African-American settlement house in the city. Housing Services Although WCA undertook many different projects, the organization's primary focus was providing low-cost housing for working women. It began in the 1870s when WCA sought to address the housing needs of thousands of single women who were moving to the city from rural areas to find work. With rare exception, they were employed in menial jobs paying very low wages and often could not afford to rent rooms in respectable boarding facilities which were popular at that time. In 1874, WCA opened the first boarding facility for women on Sixth Street and charged rent of $2.50 a week. It housed eight women, was immediately filled to capacity and moved to a larger building in 1878. |
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John S. and Mahala Fisk Pillsbury |
In the ensuing years, WCA opened more boarding facilities for women and also provided housing for transient women. By the 1920s, more than 1,000 female boarders lived in a dozen different WCA residences. Some of the buildings were gifts from benefactors, such as Governor John S. Pillsbury and Kate and William Hood Dunwoody. | William Hood and Kate Dunwoody |
WCA also operated boarding residences in rented facilities. |
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WCA was also concerned for the well-being of transient women. They joined with Travelers' Aid to meet trains as thousands of young women arrived alone in Minneapolis, many of them homeless, friendless and without money. They helped the women find jobs and directed them to affordable housing. In 1916, they opened The Woman's Hotel and charged 50 cents a night to women travelers. Men were not permitted to cross the threshold of the Woman's Hotel, which operated at several different locations over the next 20 years. | 
Matron and guests at the Woman's Hotel |
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Lindley Hall opened in 1941 at 1725 Second Ave. South |
World War I opened up new and better-paying jobs for women, and labor laws passed in 1914 meant that women finally began to earn living wages. With increased wages, women began to leave boarding residences and move into apartments. Over several years, WCA gradually closed their rented facilities but continued to operate five buildings they owned. Three of the buildings - Paige Hall, Dunwoody Hall, and the Pillsbury Club - were located in downtown Minneapolis. The Clara Doerr Club and Lindley Hall were located in Stevens Square. |
Clara Doerr Club opened in 1925 at 1717 Second Ave. South |
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Mabeth Paige Hall, 272 Fifth Ave. South |
Changing Social Needs In the 1960s the type of resident at the facilities began to change from working women new to the city to students attending metropolitan schools, who stayed only for the length of their school terms. In 1972, in response to low occupancy, WCA closed the Clara Doerr Club and rented the building to Opportunity Partners as a residential training facility for their developmentally disabled clients. The successful program was expanded into Lindley Hall in 1980. In 1974 Paige Hall became a coed residence with two floors reserved for young men. |
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Shifting the Mission to Grantmaking By the 1980s, the demand for student housing in downtown Minneapolis was waning, and the WCA members sought a new focus for the organization. They learned that the metropolitan area was blessed with many excellent human service agencies and that virtually all of them needed financial support. WCA determined it could provide a needed benefit to the nonprofit community by becoming a grantmaker. The three downtown residences were sold in 1988, 1990 and 1992, and the sales proceeds were used to establish an endowment fund. WCA made the first grant from the fund in 1989. In 1995, to reflect its grantmaking mission, the organization changed its name to WCA Foundation, dropping the words "Women's Christian Association" but retaining the initials that had been used for over 100 years. In 1999, Opportunity Partners moved their clients from Clara Doerr and Lindley Hall into smaller group homes. When the remarkable 27-year relationship between the two non-profit organizations ended, WCA sold the final two buildings and focused its mission solely on grantmaking. WCA Foundation Today Today WCA has an assest base of approximately $13.5 million and is still run by volunteer members, all of whom are
women. The 50 active members are responsible for investigating grant requests and making grant award recommendations to the Board of Directors. |
 Today WCA Foundation is privileged to continue the tradition of community service
that has been its hallmark for over 140 years.
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