Contact: Jack Bailey Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu (304) 766-4109

INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State University (WVSU) has donated $7,000 to the YWCA of Charleston Sojourner’s Shelter for Homeless Women & Families.
The donation came as a result of funds received by the University from the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), an annual event that WVSU’s academic quiz bowl team had qualified for that would have taken place in California in April.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was not able to be held this year, but Honda still awarded funds to the 48 colleges who had qualified to be given to local organizations to address food insecurity and healthcare support in their local communities.
“The YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter for Homeless Women & Families does such phenomenal work in supporting homeless families. That is why we partnered with them last year to create the Campus Access and Resource Empowerment Initiative to provide an educational pathway for homeless students to achieve a college education at West Virginia State University,” said WVSU President Anthony L. Jenkins. “Being able to present this donation to the YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter only further strengthens our partnership.”
Margaret Taylor, program director for the YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter for Homeless Women & Families, said the donation comes at a critical time.
“It is harder to raise funds now with the ongoing problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the need is still there,” Taylor said, noting that the shelter daily serves approximately 70 homeless women and families. “We are so thankful for this support because it will go directly into our programs and services to support such a vulnerable population.”
The YWCA Sojourner’s Shelter for Homeless Women & Families provides emergency shelter and supportive services around the clock, every day of the year for homeless single women, women with children, men with custody of their children and intact families. This 75-bed facility offers a secure, healthy environment with crisis intervention, case management and counseling to help individuals achieve long-term self-sufficiency. For more information, visit .
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