Night after night for the past week, we have witnessed thousands of people filling the streets in cities across the United States to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and other victims of state-sanctioned violence and systemic racism.

Right now, one of the most important ways we can all keep our community healthy and safe is by staying home. However, systemic injustices that prevent someone from staying home safely reveal the broken systems and long-standing equity barriers in our society.

All last year, YWCA brought a traveling tapestry to community events, inviting supporters to add the names of women who inspire them. Many of the strips of cloth added to the tapestry weren’t the names of historical figures and famous trailblazers, but of mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, suggesting that the promise of an equitable future starts right in the home.

With the COVID-19 crisis disrupting life and highlighting inequities, many people are wondering how they can help support work like YWCA’s at this time. Given the current “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” mandate, we brainstormed a few ways you can stay connected with YWCA’s mission and support our essential work from where you are.

Creating equity at work can take many forms. Changing hiring practices, elevating staff of color to positions of power, as well as meetings structured around equitable decision-making can all root your workplace in social justice. Creating equity at work also means elevating the needs of historically marginalized communities. Learn how a local brewery and industry association did just that.

As the 2020 census starts to pick up steam, we're talking with YWCA's Kresha Green about why it's important to get counted, and what YWCA is doing to help.