ALTON – The YWCA of Alton announced today a final call for first-round YWCA Healing Grant Virtual Program Sessions.
The YWCA of Alton is a recipient of a Healing Illinois grant from the Illinois DHS. YWCA recognizes the community need for dialogue & education about racism and equity and has developed several programs to generate deeper healing & transformative interactions among races. YWCA is dedicated to promoting racial equity at the individual and interpersonal levels through training, education, and dialogue at community and annual events.
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YWCA believes that all people have a right to be heard and we believe in listening. We also believe that education exposes truth and leads to greater understanding and ultimately, to action. YWCA is hoping our community will begin or continue their journey with us during our Awareness Sessions, Diverstory Times, and Community Healing Circles. All events are free to the public.
The first Awareness Session titled Path of Socialization is scheduled for December 12 at 2 pm featuring Minister Joyce Elliott and Ruth Meyer, local racial justice advocates, as facilitators. In this session, facilitators and panelists will study and discuss how we are socialized to think and act out our perceptions concerning race. The link to register on-line is https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciZePAP25EhuY7QXAePg2P8NyRv1AhDjwLHYBeAHjuO1mrGQ/viewform. The event is free and community participation is encouraged.
The YWCA's first DiverStory Time is scheduled for Saturday, December 12 at 10 a.m. on ZOOM featuring Becky Cowart and Georgia Bratton as facilitators, featuring two books:
Shades of People by Shelley Rotner and Sheila Kelly, and The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler. Diverstory is a session where children and their grownups come together to listen to a children’s story about diversity and engage in guided conversations about diversity, inclusion, and race. This session will include an interactive learning activity where families practice race-conscious conversations and ask questions of facilitators in a safe, respectful space.
YWCA will provide copies of the two books and learning activity materials to the first 10 families who register for this event. To register for the first Diverstory on December 12 at 10 a.m., please use the link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejh9iqj_amJXcuSw8diLnLwPigH7wqA98xahpNx2lmdRB2hg/viewform. It is also possible to register for the event by calling YWCA at 618-465-7774 or emailing us at info@altonywca.com.
Community Circles will be lead by Nana Becoat, who will guide participants in interpersonal interactions about historical contexts of privilege, effects of implicit bias, and solutions for long term racial healing. The first Community Circle is planned for Saturday, December 19 at 2:00 p.m. via Zoom. The guiding questions will be “Who are we as a nation? How did we get here? What is our origin story?” The book Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson will be used as a Resource for the event and will be distributed to the first 20 persons registering for the event. From Amazon review: “Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.”
Registration for all events can be made online or by calling YWCA of Alton at 618-465-7774 or emailing YWCA at info@altonywca.com.
Established in 1918, YWCA of Alton tailors programs to meet the unique needs of our communities, as aligned with three key national platforms: racial justice and civil rights, empowerment and economic advancement of women and girls, and health and safety of women and girls.
YWCA of Alton is proudly sponsored by Alton Memorial Hospital, Meridian-Centene Health Care, Morrissey Contracting Company, Inc., and Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery.
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