Julia McClendon’s first day as the YWCA Elgin’s chief executive officer was Sept. 4, 2001. Her last is Sept. 4, 2024.
After more than two decades, she’s retiring from the post Wednesday and turning over the reins on an interim basis to Chief Operating Officer Felicia King.
McClendon was working in New Mexico for an organization helping the homeless a quarter of a century ago when she decided to move to Illinois to be closer to family, she said. Landing with the YWCA seemed a good fit, given its mission of “eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.”
Launched as the Young Women’s Christian Association in London in 1855, the local agency has expanded its programs to include literacy, advocacy, early education and English as a Second Language. Every December, it provides Christmas gifts to youths and in the spring it runs Cinderella’s Closet, which provides affordable prom dresses to teens.
McClendon said the world had its share of ups and down over the course of her YW tenure.
A week after she started, the country was thrown into chaos when the 9/11 terrorist attacks upended American life.
“It was our first of many hard realities to accept,” she said. “It was unbelievable what had happened, and people needed to feel comfort of some kind,” McClendon said.
Families needed to know there was still goodness in the world, she said.
Then came the 2008 recession, which resulted in layoffs and people needing help.
In 2015, she faced a personal tragedy of her own when her husband, Dennis Jurs, an avid bicyclist, died after being struck by a car while training for a race. The couple had been married for 12 years.
A year later, the YW faced a budget impasse when the state stopped releasing funds promised to nonprofit social service agencies during a General Assembly battle over the budget. It was hard work making sure the YW’s programs remained viable with that money not coming in, she said.
“We had to make sure we were meeting our marks and passing them, which would guarantee funding after the crisis,” McClendon said. “We were wanting to keep our programs alive and make sure they were having an impact on the community.”
And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing people to lose their jobs during the economic standstill and dealing with the deaths of family and friends from the virus. “People were hurting,” McClendon said.
Like so many grouips, the YW shifted gears. They offered help by creating a small makeshift grocery store in its building lobby and started delivering food to families.
And when those families had no choice but to get back to work while their children were still doing remote learning, “we increased our bandwidth, as they say. We were able to have kids do online classes here while their parents worked,” she said.
McClendon applied for a lot of grants and filled out many applications for federal assistance, successfully securing loans through the Paycheck Protection Program and other funding. “It helped us survive,” she said.
She credits YW employees for always being ready to help families and pulling together during all the crises.
“I have the best staff,” she said. “We kept evolving. … You can’t just sit still.”
One example of that evolution are things like adding a job training component to their ESL classes, she said.
“The families teach us how to be resilient,” she said. “We work to make ourselves stronger and to make the organization stronger and keep carrying out the work.”
McClendon said started thinking about retirement in January, and told the YWCA board of directors of her decision in March.
She’s confident leaving the YW in the hands of King and Adult and Family Literacy Director India Smith Holloway, she said. Both women have shown their dedication to the agency’s mission and have had a huge financial and positive impact on the organization, she said.
YW board member Danise Habun, who has known McClendon for about 20 years, lauded her dedication to the organization.
“I think Julia has been a leading force for good for women and for people who are very vulnerable,” she said. “She’s been a true leader in the Elgin community. She’s been remarkable to work with.”
One of McClendon’s legacies is leaving the YW with a plan in place that will carry it into the future, Habun added.
“Julia has done a lot to bring the organization into the 21st century, which is a marvelous thing. She’s moved the organization forward,” she said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
