YWCA participants Cindy Peel and Cynthia Allen receive tips from their plumbing instructor, Robert Mattucci, at the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 267 Plumbing Laboratory.
“After we completed the course, we felt comforted knowing that we had accomplished something. When you get through one challenge in your life, it makes you want to complete everything else that you start to do.”
- Cindy Peel and Cynthia Allen, Plumbing Course Graduates
Last spring, the Women’s Fund of Central New York funded the local YWCA’s new Introductory Plumbing Course. Instructor Robert Mattucci worked with enrolled YWCA residents while they explored how to fit pipes, install fixtures and use plumbing tools. The women not only learned valuable trade skills but also expanded their personal feelings of independence and accomplishment, which they will carry with them outside of the classroom. After the course’s completion, Cindy was inspired to pursue a GED, ultimately setting her sites on the Plumbing and Steamfitter’s Apprentice Program.
The Women’s Fund, a component of the Community Foundation, pools individual contributions into a permanent endowment to fund programs that support women and girls. The success of their investment in the YWCA shows the power that collective giving can have to change lives, making it Where the Smart Money Gives Back.