September – October 2020

Thank You to our Amazing Staff!

We’d like to recognize all essential employees who worked during the first phase of the pandemic, beginning in March through today, for their commitment to YWCA Columbus.

Our Virtual Women of Achievement Celebration was a Success!

On Wednesday, August 12^th, we added 12 new women to our YWCA Columbus Alumni family during our first-ever virtual Women of Achievement Event. If you did not get the chance to watch the show live, you can view the full event here.

Speaking of video and Women of Achievement…You’ll see our own staff members in the new mission video for YWCA Columbus, highlighting why our social justice work is so important:

Grow Your Career with YWCA Columbus!

We are currently reviewing candidates for multiple positions, including the ones mentioned above!  If you are interested in being considered for any of these roles, please submit your resume on our website using this link:  https://www.ywcacolumbus.org/who-we-are/join-our-team.

If you know someone looking for work, refer them for a chance to earn some cash! Please feel free to reach out to Lisa Skelly at lskelly@ywcacolumbus.org with any questions.

No Justice, No Peace: Housing and Modern Civil Rights Movement

In July, Christie Angel and Jillian Olinger moderated a conversation on housing justice. You can watch the full panel here: https://www.facebook.com/AHACOhousing/videos/282916693040159

The Future of YWCA Columbus is Bright!

YWCA Columbus is still fighting to engage and empower the next generation of leaders even at a social distance. Last month Leadership and Social Justice Manager Lauren James and Program Coordinator Belen deLeon delivered Bright Futures Activist Packets to the 2019 Bright Futures graduates. The Bright Futures Activist Packets contained resources about Black American history and structural racism including educational materials like Ibram X Kendi’s YA book, Stamped from the Beginning: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You, an activism guide, self-care tools, journals, COVID face masks, and an invitation to a virtual meet-up that will encourage the participants to process their feelings and experiences around the current civil rights movement.

The goal of Bright Futures and the Activist Packets is to empower girls by shedding light on the impact of systemic racism on their lived experiences and perceptions of self and others, outlining action steps to advocate for racial justice, and providing self-care tips for mental health while confronting racism. We know that investing in these amazing young women means investing in the future of equity and social justice in Columbus and the world.

The Bright Futures program is also looking for 7th and 8th grade girls to join YWCA Columbus for an all new VIRTUAL Bright Futures cohort! Our original Bright Futures program was intended for girls in the Hilltop area, and we will continue to prioritize those girls, but all middle school girls are welcome to apply! Contact Lauren James at ljames@ywcacolumbus.org for more information.

Get Involved and Get Out the Vote

This year there are more barriers to getting out the vote than we ever could have imagined, but we’re not letting COVID-19 stop us from helping our community register to vote. We’re doing all that we can to help hard to reach voters get involved and civically engaged and we want you to join us. YWCA Columbus and League of Women Voters are holding a virtual voter registration training and phone banking session on Thursday September 24th. We’ll be calling up hard to reach voters and guiding them through the voter registration process. Click the link below to help us register our community to vote. Learn more here: https://www.ywcacolumbus.org/volunteer-event/

MAKE A PLAN TO VOTE

HELPFUL LINKS:

CHECK TO SEE IF YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE
REQUEST YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOT
ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUEST FORM PDF
DROP YOUR BALLOT OFF IN PERSON AT YOUR LOCAL BOARD OF ELECTIONS OFFICE
VOTE EARLY IN PERSON
FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE
VOTER I.D. REQUIREMENTS
VOTER CHECK LIST
BECOME A POLL WORKER 
LEARN MORE ABOUT VOTER SUPPRESSION AND THE DEMAND TO VOTE
AND THE ACLU
SUPPORT BLM WITH YOUR VOTE

Leadership for Social Change Applications are Opening Soon

Now in its sixth year, Leadership for Social Change is a 10-month learning experience, for emerging female leaders at the beginning of their careers. Participants engage in workshops with community experts working in grassroots, political, community-based, educational and nonprofit organizations that create social change. Each session is crafted to help participants develop knowledge about current issues and models for creating social change. If you know someone who would be great for this program, make sure they visit our website: https://www.ywcacolumbus.org/what-we-do/educate-empower/leadership-for-social-change/

Event for Staff and Residents

We are excited to announce that this year’s Stand Against Racism Creative Writing Workshop has been rescheduled for Friday, September 11^th from 2:00pm to 3:45pm.

This year’s Stand Against Racism event, Y Women Count, will gather YWCA staff and residents of our supportive housing program on Zoom to celebrate our completion of the census and our right to vote through a creative writing/ poetry workshop led by local spoken word artist Barbara Fant. Join us for the opportunity to…

1. Create your own spoken word piece with help and guidance from amazing local poet, Barbara Fant
2. Process your own inner and societal value through the prompt #MyVoiceCounts
3. Share your poetry and your journey with fellow staff and residents (optional)
4. Learn more about how you can Get Counted and Get Out the Vote

We would love for you to join us! Email Lauren James at ljames@ywcacolumbus.org with any questions.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81471628579

Meeting ID: 814 7162 8579

– More Internal News –

SparkColumbus 2020 Fit City Challenge

A New Training is Complete!

The Service Coordination team in the Women’s Residency program recently went through a Narcan training for use in opioid overdoses. We now have Narcan for staff to utilize if needed!

Volunteer Update

We have made the decision to continue the suspension of all in-person volunteer opportunities. While we had hoped to implement a return plan by now, the increase in numbers surrounding the current pandemic has shown that we are not at that step yet. Although we do not have volunteers in the building, we have created virtual volunteer opportunities (shown here) to support the work being done at YWCA Columbus. Please feel free to share these opportunities with friends, families, and peers to help spread the word of ways to safely and distantly volunteer.

– YWCA Columbus in the News –

NEW! Columbus Alive featured Christie Angel as part of The Edge Sisters, a powerful group of women pushing for change. Read the article here. (August 19, 2020)

NEW! Columbus Underground featured our voter registration phone banking event here. (August 18, 2020)

NEW! Columbus Underground wrote a roundup piece about Olentangy River Brewing’s Black is Beautiful beer collaboration with proceeds benefiting YWCA Columbus. (August 10, 2020)

NEW! Spectrum News 1 Ohio interviewed Christie Angel for their Voices for Change series, where activists, leaders, and community members share what has brought them to action and how addressing racial discrimination will create a better world for everyone. Watch the segment here. (July 1, 2020)

NEW! Christie Angel pens a piece dedicated to giving voice to the community around the BLM movement, the protests that occurred, and the way forward for the July edition of 614 Magazine.

NEW! Christie Angel discusses summer camp for children staying at our Family Center in the Columbus Dispatch. Read it here. (June 30, 3030)

NEW! Columbus Navigator interviewed Caroline Woliver on how to fight systemic racism and be anti-racist. Read it here. (June 29, 2020)

Columbus Business First featured YWCA Columbus within an article about Homage. Read it here. (June 16, 2020)

Forbes.com covered that Franklin County declared racism to be a public health crisis, and featured YWCA Columbus and Christie Angel, alongside other community leaders, throughout the article. You can read the full piece here. (June 12, 2020)

FOX28 Good Day Marketplace featured Christie Angel as part of The Big Give. Watch the segment here. (June 8, 2020)

The Columbus Dispatch covered how YWCA Columbus is working on action steps toward racial equity change alongside other organizations in Columbus. Read the full article here. (June 7, 2020)

Columbus Business First covered the Coalition of African American Leaders’ press conference that unveiled a plan to combat racism in Central Ohio. Watch as nonprofit and religious leaders announce their initial agenda to reform practices that create and protect a culture of systemic racism in Central Ohio, and read the Columbus Business First coverage here. (June 2, 2020)

FOX28 covered the Coalition of African American Leaders’ press conference that unveiled a plan to combat racism in Central Ohio. View their online piece here. (June 2, 2020)

ABC6 covered the Coalition of African American Leaders’ press conference that unveiled a plan to combat racism in Central Ohio. Read their news release here. (June 2, 2020)

The Columbus covered the Coalition of African American Leaders’ press conference that unveiled a plan to combat racism in Central Ohio. Read the article here. (June 2, 2020)

Caroline Woliver, our Director of Leadership and Social Justice participated in an interactive conversation on race and solidarity featuring several local community leaders. You can watch it here. (June 2, 2020)

10TV covered the press conference hosted by Columbus City Council to bring together community leaders to share their thoughts on the protests in downtown Columbus. Caroline Woliver, our Director of Leadership and Social Justice participated in the presser. Watch the presser here, and the news coverage here.  (May 29, 2020).

Spectrum News1 Interviewed YWCA Columbus, Chief Mission Officer, Jillian Olinger about declaring racism a public health crisis. Watch the segment here. (May 17, 2020).

Grange Insurance Announces Additional $1 Million Donation to Nonprofits for COVID-19 Pandemic Support. Read the announcement here. (May 19, 2020)

NBC4 Anchor, Colleen Marshall interviewed Paula Johnson Neal, our Safe & Sound Childcare Program Administrator at our Family Center about the struggles homeless children are facing during this pandemic. Watch the segment here. (April 23, 2020)

Christie was featured as a guest on Columbus Business First’s Crisis Management Podcast. She discusses racial disparities in public health among the pandemic. Read and watch the interview here. (April 23, 2020)

Columbus Business First also covered our Women of Achievement Online Celebration. Read the article here. (April 22, 2020)

Columbus CEO published Jillian Olinger’s op-ed titled: “COVID-19: ‘The equalizer’ highlights our inequities and racism should be declared a public health crisis.” The piece highlights how coronavirus is hitting black communities harder, and it includes action items to address the specific needs of communities of color as we fight to reduce the spread of COVID-19. You can read it by clicking here. (April 14, 2020)

The Columbus Dispatch included YWCA Columbus in a roundup story for supporting a bond issue that will raise $300 million for capital improvements to Columbus State Community College’s campus. You can read the full article here.