"It's a dream come true for me," said Reta Kuyat, beaming.

She concedes she was too happy to eat during a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the Greensburg YWCA, which she helped found with a group of like-minded young women in 1959.

"I'm just so happy that I saw it come to fruition and I'm still here," she said at the June 16 celebration. "How many people that started something are still living [50 years later]?

When Mrs. Kuyat moved to Greensburg in 1956, she set her sights on launching a YWCA chapter to provide what she believed the area was sorely lacking: a gathering place for women.

The idea proved to be popular. The process to officially establish the Greensburg YWCA was quickly under way.

Answering the needs of women in the community is the purpose of the YWCA movement, Mrs. Kuyat explained.

"We're innovators. We find a need and we fill it. Whatever is necessary, whatever needs we have, we fill them."

The founding members persisted with their YWCA vision despite consternation on the part of the local YMCA, whose board at the time included the husbands of a number of the YWCA's founding women.

"[The YMCA] didn't want any competition," Mrs. Kuyat said. "So when we said we were going to start this, they asked us to be part of the YMCA.

"At that time, women were put down. You know, you just listened to whatever the men would say. It has changed a lot, but at that time you just didn't make your wishes known. You just sat there."

True to form with the YWCA organization, whose mission statement calls for empowering women to take leadership roles in society, the young founders declined the YMCA offer.

"We said, 'Thanks for inviting us, but no thanks,' " Mrs. Kuyat said. "That was the only way we could, because this was for women."

By March 1959, boasting a membership of 600 and having satisfied YWCA USA requirements, the Greensburg YWCA received its official charter from the New York office.

Early in its existence, the Y held classes and meetings in church basements, fire halls and at Greensburg High School, with the organization manning a one-room office on Main Street.

By 1970, the expanding association had acquired the Katharine Horn mansion, at 424 Main St., to serve as its headquarters. The mansion got a 4,000-square-foot addition in 1996 to accommodate the YWCA's continued growth, and remains the headquarters today.

Bonnie Lewis, in her 20th year as executive director, was initially attracted to the YMCA for its mission of empowering women and eliminating racism -- causes she embraced.

Echoing the words of Mrs. Kuyat, Ms. Lewis asserts that Greensburg Y is tirelessly working to answer the question, "What do women today need?" Among the answers are social services, child care, health and wellness programs and educational opportunities.

"The kinds of programs and services that the YWCA had [in 1959] were different than today, but equally important at the time," Ms. Lewis said. "They were the kind of things that women needed then.

"One of the best things about the YWCA is that we're constantly looking to evolve. Is this the best way that we can serve the needs of women? Is this the best job that we can do to promote diversity in our community?"

Under Ms. Lewis' watch, the Greensburg Y's evolution includes a technology program designed to expose young girls to robotics to encourage their participation in the historically male-dominated disciplines of science and mathematics.

English as a Second Language classes also have been incorporated into the Y's literacy program because of the increasingly diverse and growing international community in Westmoreland County. Plans to develop the Y's racial justice program and promote diversity within the community are next on the agenda.

Race Matters Roundtable is one of the Y's most successful programs, promoting racial justice. The program brings together white women and women of color to discuss race issues openly in the hope of developing friendships and enlightening one another.

As part of its mission of diversity, the Greensburg YWCA also ensures that about one-third of its board of directors are women of color.

In a speech at the 50th anniversary celebration, Mrs. Kuyat, who is still active and passionate about the Greensburg YWCA, thanked all members and volunteers, past and present, for continuing to make her dream a reality.

"I'm proud of the people [who] believed in the dream," she said. "Because without people coming, you don't have anything. We've had so many people say it was a life-saver for them, and I want it to be here another 50 years, continuing to help make leaders out of young girls and women."

The Greensburg YWCA's 50th anniversary festivities will continue throughout the year, culminating in September with the hosting of a Chamber Bash at its South Maple Avenue Thrift Shop.