WE ARE NOT NEW TO THIS, WE ARE TRUE TO THIS For over 140 years, YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley has been on the frontlines advocating for equal pay, voting rights and reproductive healthcare, working to provide safe and affordable housing for women, families, LGBTQIA+, people of color, and older adults, promoting economic security through education, job placement support and childcare, and providing critical resources for survivors of violence. Our mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all, requires us to face head-on the challenges that directly impact the communities we serve. Our wraparound services promote healing and safety, address economic inequities and respond to systemic injustices that disproportionately impact women and families of color. In the past year alone, Your YWCA uplifted 42,000 community members with our critical, and sometimes life-saving, crisis support line, childcare, housing, prevention education, therapy services and economic opportunity programs.
To achieve positive outcomes for those we serve, a strong funding model is necessary to not only deliver YWCA’s programs, but also to retain staff and maintain a healthy environment that allows us to help our clients in a trauma- and resilient- informed way. Your YWCA has long held effective partnerships with federal and state funding agencies to fuel our services for women, children, survivors, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, ensuring the dignity and respect that every individual deserves. Those funding sources are no longer guaranteed given the recent executive orders that place heinous restrictions on federal funding and engagement, which impacts our ability to continue serving the most vulnerable communities.