Advocate

OUR Vision

YWCA Spokane advocates policy and matters that advance our mission and vision. We believe that, working together, we can create a community where:

All women and families have a safe and stable place to live. We support measures that make housing accessible to homeless and low-income women and families, prevent homelessness and promote creation of affordable housing.
Women are economically self-sufficient. We support measures that promote education and economic justice for women.
All children and youth develop the skills they need to succeed in life. We support measures that promote children’s health, early learning and school success.
All people live in dignity, free from violence, racism and discrimination. We support measures that reduce the incidence and negative effects of domestic violence, diminish health disparities and advance social justice.

We believe that supporting a robust human services network is a core function of government. Therefore, we support the use of general funds and dedicated revenue sources for human services at all levels of government.

Your Voice & Your Actions Matter

Together, We Can Create Real and Lasting Change

Your voice has power and can have an amazing impact in your community and across the nation. There are many ways you can get involved and make a difference in the lives of women, children, and families on a local level and nationally.

- Contact your local representatives and share your voice about important issues that impact you, your family, and the families served by your community.
- Visit the YWCA USA site to learn more about our national policy priorities.
- Volunteer, attend events, and spread awareness through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn about the work that we do in our community.
- Support YWCA’s work and mission with a financial gift. Donate Today.
- Report hate crimes and hate incidents through the Spokane County Human Rights Taskforce reporting tool.
- Learn about our YWCA USA racial justice and civil rights policy priorities.
- Stand for racial justice and civil rights by becoming a YWCA Advocate.
- Fight racial profiling in your community with the Racial Profiling Community Watch Checklist.
- Oppose racial profiling in education with the Racial Profiling Education System Checklist.
- Learn and share about ending criminalization of women and girls of color through the We Deserve Safety Report.
- Learn and share about Ending Racial Profiling and the Criminalization of People of Color.

PLEDGE TO STAND AGAINST RACISM

As a part of YWCA’s national annual campaign, take a pledge to stand united in our efforts to eliminate racism, empower women, stand up for social justice, help families, and strengthen communities. Join YWCA and hundreds of thousands of people across the country who engage in our annual pledge to Stand Against Racism today and every day.

Take The Pledge

YWCA Spokane ONE MISSION Campaign

At YWCA Spokane, we see our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women as one mission, not two.

We believe in a community where all women, children, and families have a safe place to live. A place where women have the opportunity to earn a livable wage and families can live free from violence, in peace, and with dignity. This vision is hollow if we ignore the compounded intersections of race, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity–and especially if we ignore the experiences of women of color, who have long been leaders in anti-racist and women’s rights movements.

Racial and gender equity are inextricably linked. Statistics show us that women of color experience disproportionate rates of poverty, violence, physiological aggression, and mortality, as shared by the Status Of Women In The States. This is unacceptable. We must work together to address systemic issues preventing safe and equitable access to peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. Transformation is multilayered and takes place individually, through our relationships and collective cultures (e.g. neighborhood, organization), as well as at the level of structural society (public policies supported by private actions). That’s where our ONE MISSION campaign comes in.

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Youth Matters with YWCA

This group is to serve as a safe and inclusive space for those under the age of 18 to ask questions, get connected to resources & events, and discuss matters important to them with trauma-informed Advocates. Advocates will regularly post video lessons and discussion prompts that will cover social and racial justice, healthy relationships and red flags, self-care and more. We are looking to educate, engage and empower youth to become change agents in their own lives, and to ultimately lead safer, healthier futures.

Youth Matters

Get Out The Vote Campaign & Survivor Voting Guide

YWCA is on a mission to eliminate racism and empower women. We know how crucial it is to support women, in particular women and girls of color, this past election season and beyond. YWCA Spokane joins our parent organization, YWCA USA, and local YWCA organization branches across the country in encouraging robust, diverse voter participation during each election, including the past November 2020 election. We are especially committed to doing our part to make sure women get to the polls, and that our experiences and needs are valued, represented, and made a priority to those who represent us in elected office. We know that voting is critical to ensuring a healthy, safe, empowered future for us, our families, and our communities.

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2020 Census Engagement Campaign

Every 10 years, every household in America is surveyed on demographics that will determine how billions of Federal funds are distributed, the number of seats we have in Congress, where critical infrastructure is provided and much more. This year, YWCA Spokane is joining national efforts through YWCA USA and local efforts through the Spokane Complete Count Committee to make the census is as accessible as possible to the populations we serve.

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