Our Mission

The mission of Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center is to end cycles of trauma, support lifelong learning, and promote healthy relationships with oneself and others.

About Our Work

Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center (Walnut Avenue) is a 501 (c) 3 public benefit organization and family center dedicated to improving the quality of life for women, children, and families in Santa Cruz County since 1944. Many of the families participating in Walnut Avenue programs are from under-served populations due to poverty, early pregnancy, lack of stable housing, and/or domestic violence.

Our services have shifted over the decades as the needs of our community have shifted. They currently include:

  • Early Education

  • Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence

  • Services for Children & Youth

  • Space for Change

  • Housing & Employment Program

  • Food Pantry and Family Support Services

  • Walnut Avenue uses an individualized approach to supporting staff, volunteers, and program participants in developing and using their unique strengths to maximize their potential. We believe that each person is the expert in determining their own needs, and we are guides and allies in their efforts to achieve their goals.

  • Walnut Avenue serves all those who qualify for our services to the best of our ability and knowledge, without judgment but with the intentional awareness that institutional racism, misogyny, and other forms of implicit bias are pervasive in our culture. Walnut Avenue seeks to ensure that all individuals have equal opportunities to learn, grow, and access the resources they need to thrive.

  • Walnut Avenue regularly evaluates our services and actively collects data to inform program development. We are committed to using our funding wisely while providing services in line with current best practices in our various areas of expertise.

  • Walnut Avenue believes that all individuals deserve to live free from violence, aggression, and oppression. Our understanding of how past trauma affects individuals and families guides our service provision as well as human resources management.

  • Promoting life-long learning is the most fundamental resource we can provide. Walnut Avenue understands that the education and care children receive in their first five years will shape their future health and well-being, which ultimately affects the health and well-being of our community as a whole. Education is also our greatest asset in the prevention of interpersonal violence.

Our Values

Our History

For more than 85 years, Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center has helped individuals and families lead healthy, happy and productive lives. Founded as the YWCA in 1933 and renamed in 1994 to best reflect our services, Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center has called the old blue house at 303 Walnut Avenue home since 1944.

Built in the 1920’s by Salvator and Frances Bagnell Fachutar, the couple built 303 Walnut as a combination home and music studio. It became known as the largest music house between San Francisco and Los Angeles. They also manufactured perfume on the property to support their love of music with additional income. In 1944, Mrs. Fachutar sold the house to the Santa Cruz YWCA. The Y Women including Mrs. Fred McPherson, Edith Hinds, Mabel Byrne and Bertha Adams laid the foundation for 50 years of service to the Santa Cruz Community including “Club 303” (a night club for teens), the Gay Troubadours (the first all boys club sponsored by a YWCA), and multiple programs for women and girls of all races and cultures.

In 1994, the YWCA left the national Y organization and became the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center. The change was motivated by the desire of the board to expand services to “battered women.” In 2015, Walnut Avenue Family & Women's Center (Walnut Avenue) updated our name and logo to further highlight our dedication to serving entire families. Walnut Avenue has grown from a small organization with ten staff members to a thriving Family and Women’s Center with over 25 staff and several programs providing support and services to thousands of people per year.