The following post was written by Hallie Chillag Dunlap, a member of the YWCA of Charleston's Board of Directors and Chair of the YWCA Eliminating Racism Committee. In the early weeks of the summer, Paul Sheridan came to me, and to the YWCA of Charleston with an idea of reaching out to the United States Justice Administration in the hopes of acquiring federal stimulus dollars to further the work of the Eliminating Racism Committee of the YWCA Board of Directors and our associated community group, One Kanawha. Members of these groups are consummate community activists, motivated by a strong social justice imperative. Members quickly recognized an opportunity to develop a staff position dedicated to this end through personal and community commitment and federal dollars.
As conversations evolved regarding how we could develop a social justice position to support our existing work, we realized that a grant application that reflected the YWCA's mission as well as community needs could truly empower a potential employee to do thoughtful and critically needed work in our community.
Furthermore, this would be a chance to meet both the requirements of the stimulus money (put someone to work) and to hire an individual to help to fulfill the mission of the YWCA, specifically our "eliminating racism" call to action. YWCA staff members (thank you Felicia Bush and Deb Weinstein) and community partners (thank you Paul Sheridan, Tracy Dorsey Chapman, JoEllen Zacks, Crystal Good, and Margaret Chapman among others) worked tirelessly to complete an intensive grant application in less than two weeks!
The dream of having a dedicated employee to push our equity work forward was an exciting and unprecedented opportunity. This individual would not have another job to distract him or her from our important mission! We realized that having a paid YWCA staff position could really grow what had been before exclusively volunteer work. Last month we were notified that we would have the opportunity to hire such an individual, which was an extremely exciting revelation for our community and committee members!
To this end, we are currently looking for a Racial Justice and Hate/Bias Crimes Statewide Coordinator. This position will coordinate a one-year, statewide, racial justice training project. In addition, the position requires that this individual facilitate statewide trainings in racial justice and hate/bias crime issues. This individual will also have the opportunity to develop a model community dialogue. We are looking for an enthusiastic, energetic individual with social justice priorities to come and dedicate themselves to the call to eliminate racism.
For more information, please see extended position specifications here.
To paraphrase the timeless words of Mahatma Gandhi, come and be the change you want to see in this world!
As conversations evolved regarding how we could develop a social justice position to support our existing work, we realized that a grant application that reflected the YWCA's mission as well as community needs could truly empower a potential employee to do thoughtful and critically needed work in our community.
Furthermore, this would be a chance to meet both the requirements of the stimulus money (put someone to work) and to hire an individual to help to fulfill the mission of the YWCA, specifically our "eliminating racism" call to action. YWCA staff members (thank you Felicia Bush and Deb Weinstein) and community partners (thank you Paul Sheridan, Tracy Dorsey Chapman, JoEllen Zacks, Crystal Good, and Margaret Chapman among others) worked tirelessly to complete an intensive grant application in less than two weeks!
The dream of having a dedicated employee to push our equity work forward was an exciting and unprecedented opportunity. This individual would not have another job to distract him or her from our important mission! We realized that having a paid YWCA staff position could really grow what had been before exclusively volunteer work. Last month we were notified that we would have the opportunity to hire such an individual, which was an extremely exciting revelation for our community and committee members!
To this end, we are currently looking for a Racial Justice and Hate/Bias Crimes Statewide Coordinator. This position will coordinate a one-year, statewide, racial justice training project. In addition, the position requires that this individual facilitate statewide trainings in racial justice and hate/bias crime issues. This individual will also have the opportunity to develop a model community dialogue. We are looking for an enthusiastic, energetic individual with social justice priorities to come and dedicate themselves to the call to eliminate racism.
For more information, please see extended position specifications here.
To paraphrase the timeless words of Mahatma Gandhi, come and be the change you want to see in this world!
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