‘Stronger together’: YWCA Northwestern Illinois acquires The Literacy Council

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The YWCA Northwestern Illinois has acquired The Literacy Council in a partnership designed to create easier access to the crucial resources each nonprofit provides.

The YWCA, a social services organization whose mission is to empower women and eliminate racism, and The Literacy Council, which provides adult literacy programs and English as a second language courses, finalized the agreement on Monday. They officially announced the acquisition Thursday afternoon.

“This acquisition will help us provide a one-stop shop for families needing life-altering resources and also increase cost-effectiveness, so we can do even more in the future for the women and families in our region,” said Kris Machajewski, CEO of the YWCA Northwestern Illinois.

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The Literacy Council will now operate as a department of the YWCA, and its roughly 25 employees will be added to the YWCA’s staff of a little under 50. The council’s building at 982 N. Main St. will continue to be home to literacy programs, and it will serve as a west-side location for the YWCA.

Machajewski said the YWCA also plans to make renovations to the Main Street property. To that end, state Sen. Steve Stadelman announced $25,000 in state grants Thursday to help make interior renovations and parking lot improvements.

“I applaud the YWCA and the Literacy Council for deciding both organizations are stronger together and so too are the families they serve,” Stadelman said in a news release. “I’m equally enthusiastic about the decision to keep a presence on Rockford’s west side, which makes my decision to devote funds to facility upgrades an easy one. Families need reasonable access to social services, and transportation limitations of those who live in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods are real.”

Machajewski is working on identifying which YWCA programs, such as its immigrant resources, will be housed at the west-side location.

“For our immigrant programs, especially, because they do so many ESL classes with the Literacy Council, it’s just great exposure for the immigrants and refugees we’re already serving to have a direct connection to that,” she said.

The Literacy Council property includes two apartments. Machajewski said they will seek funding to turn those apartments into emergency housing units.

The YWCA now uses hotel rooms to provide emergency housing for families. Those apartments, for example, could become emergency shelter for people in partner abuse intervention programs.

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The YWCA has looked for opportunities to expand its reach through partnerships and acquisitions. Unlike its last acquisition of La Voz Latina in 2015, the nonprofit’s leaders say this deal was not spurred by any financial hardship.

But, Machajewski said, the two organizations have aligned missions, and with The Literacy Council without a permanent executive director it created an opportune time for the organizations to merge.

“This is a great time for this partnership as the resources that are being offered by YWCA Northwestern Illinois will integrate perfectly with the services offered by The Literacy Council, making it easier for individuals in our community to seek holistic support,” said Nicole Fasano, board president of The Literacy Council.

The YWCA reached out to The Literacy Council earlier this year to explore the potential acquisition, and the organizations reached an agreement over several months.

“We have a short list of organizations that we’ve been keeping an eye on. When it’s a good time to make an approach we will,” Machajewski said. “If you want to be competitive in today’s nonprofit sector you have to be looking at these opportunities because it just costs too much money to deliver these services if you are small.”

The YWCA expects it can help expand the sources of funding for The Literacy Council and improve its operations. That’s what happened with La Voz Latina when that organization was months away from closure before it merged under YWCA’s umbrella. La Voz’s operating budget more than doubled after the acquisition, and it quickly went from financial books in the red to the black.

“It’s amazing the savings we saw, as quickly as we saw it,” Machajewski said.

Since the acquisition of La Voz Latina, the operating budget margin has increased by 259%, according to the YWCA. It has also added three new programs, including the Illinois Welcoming Center for refugees and immigrants.

The YWCA said it expects similar increases in operating margins for The Literacy Council.

“This is an amazing coming home story for our organization as well,” Machajewski said. “The Literacy Council was started by the YWCA in the 1980s and formed its own 501(c)3 in 1986. We are looking forward to working together again even stronger to positively impact our region.”

The Literacy Council has 90 days now to dissolve its nonprofit and complete the transition to operating under the YWCA.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.