Racial Justice

At the core of YWCA Greater Newburyport—and sister YWCAs across the U.S. and around the globe—are racial justice efforts that break down internal and external barriers to racial equality and challenge our communities to move toward equity in the workplace, housing, education, and all aspects of life.
21 Day Racial Justice Challenge
The YWCA Newburyport will be joining YWCA USA for an upcoming Racial Justice Challenge. In order to fully participate, we encourage folks to take a pre-event survey by selecting YWCA of Greater Newburyport as this will give us credit. To the right, you will see a screenshot of what will be displayed as you join and participate in the survey. The Pre-Event survey is linked below. We appreciate your participation!
One Night Homeless Count
Annually the YWCA Greater Newburyport and the Amesbury Council on Aging participate in the One Night Homeless Count on the last Wednesday in January. The count is conducted primarily to highlight the issue of homelessness in our community and promote the need for more affordable housing. The count provides information to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help with their planning and allocation of funding.
Racial Justice Committee
Chaired by a high school member of the YWCA Board of Directors, this committee, made up of community members and YWCA Board members, spearheads the racial justice work of our YWCA. The group plans public events such as the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration as well as other educational and awareness activities throughout the year. Our efforts include collaborating with other community organizations to strengthen and expand our efforts. If you are interested in joining this committee email the YWCA staff person who assists the committee.
YWCA Annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration
Martin Luther King – The Art of Racial Justice. Thursday, January 12, 2023 6 pm
The Art of Racial Justice. Please join members of the YWCA of Greater Newburyport for the 30th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on: Thursday, January 12, 2023, 6:00 pm at the Newburyport Senior Center, 331 High Street in Newburyport. This event will feature artists from Elevated Thought; they will help audience members reflect on quotations from “The Trumpet of Conscience”, Dr. King’s last work before his assassination on April 4, 1968. The artists will lead discussions sessions and will guide groups of attendees in creating art that reflects sentiments in the quotations. We will combine all the art into one collage representing group reactions to the words of Dr. King. Elevated Thought is an art and social justice organization based in Lawrence. They develop spaces for BIPOC youth and communities to engage in art and to learn how art can be liberating. They offer free or low-cost creative workshops designed with a wide range of ages and experiences in mind. Advanced tickets are required, as space is limited; they will be available on a first come, first served basis. As always, students are free and can register here. Adults are $10.00 and can register here. You can also register by calling the YWCA Greater Newburyport at 978-465-9922. We would like to thank our sponsor The Garrison Inn. We appreciate the support of tthe Newburyport Diversity Equity and Inclusion Alliance.
We look forward to seeing you there!
On behalf of the YWCA Racial Justice Committee John Feehan, Executive Director, YWCA Greater Newburyport



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