Staying in the Struggle

• by YWCA Union County
• July 18, 2018

At a conference I attended last year, one of the speakers stated: “the question is not if you win, the question is whether or not you stay in the struggle.”

These days it seems as though “staying in the struggle” is more and more of an effort.  When we wake up to news about children, including infants and toddlers, being separated from their parents and held for months in what can only be described as cages – it is easier to just turn off the news and ignore it. The change in policy that women seeking asylum due to the domestic violence will be turned away because “domestic violence is a private crime,” that the legal and civil rights of LGBTQ individuals are threatened, or that the legal right to abortion hangs by a thread, all run antithetical to everything that the YWCA stands for.  So many of our organizational values as well as my own personal values are being challenged on a daily basis.  At times it just seems easier to turn off the “noise” and retreat to doing nothing.

How do I stay in the struggle and how can I motivate others to continue to do so?  The reality is that as CEO of the YWCA Union County, I know that literally hundreds of people depend on us every day for safety and at times their literal survival.  The families who live in our residential programs, the people who arrive at the Family Justice Center every day, or who seek help from our counselors, court advocates, and others – all rely on us to provide life-sustaining help for them in their day to day struggles.  The children in our PALS program are healing from their trauma because we are there for them.  The families in our emergency shelter might otherwise be homeless if we were not here.

Our ability to change lives and to be here for those in need, reminds me that each day is an opportunity to fight the inequities and the policies that harm people.  But it’s not just the individual actions and services – it’s using our voices and our collective power to speak out on behalf of the values we hold dear.  Many of us are using our voices through phone calls, letters, and participation in rallies to express our views and urge policy changes.  In a few weeks, many of us will participate in YWCA’s “In-District Advocacy Day,” visiting our legislators and sharing the importance of preserving our values through funding, policies, and legislation.  And from now until November, we will be encouraging people to register to vote and go to the polls to cast their vote for people who uphold these values.

Each day may be a struggle to fight against laws, policies, and actions that we oppose – but it’s critical to stay in the struggle.  People are counting on us – let’s not let them down.

Janice C. Lilien, YWCA Union County CEO