January 31, 2017
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cindy Adkins
302.655.0039 ext. 225
[email protected]
www.ywcade.org
YWCA Organizing Action Network to Respond to Hate in Delaware
Wilmington, DE: YWCA Delaware will hold an open organizing meeting on February 21st at 7
p.m. to create a people’s network that can respond to acts of hate and bias-motivated incidents
in Delaware. The network is meant to build new connections and relationships between people
of different races, cultures and faiths. The facilitated meeting will include discussions about the
types of actions in which participants would like to engage in as a group when acts of
harassment, intimidation, and/or vandalism occur in schools, stores, businesses and
neighborhoods.
YWCA will help organize and inspire interested participants who wish to make an impact in their
community and be a readily-available resource that can provide guidance. The network is a
grassroots effort where participants will decide the response mechanisms, which may include:
protests, letter-writing, social media campaigns, and community-level visual support, such as
window signs, etc.
The first meeting will be held Tuesday, February 21st at 7 p.m., at the First Unitarian Church of
Wilmington, 730 Halstead Road, Wilmington. For more information about the meeting or the
network, contact Matthew Pillischer, YWCA Director of Racial Justice and Social Advocacy via
email at [email protected] or call 302.655.0039 ext. 230. Information is also available on
our website at www.ywcade.org and our Facebook at www.facebook.com/ywcadelaware .
“We know that racism, xenophobia, misogyny and homophobia exist when we see subtle and
overt actions of intimidation in Delaware and across the country. We want to fight back by
building solidarity between people who share our values of inclusion, compassion and principles
of human dignity, and to build a network ready to act quickly against hate,” said Matt Pillischer,
YWCA Director of Racial Justice and Social Advocacy.
------------------------------------------------------------------YWCA is a national organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and
promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. YWCA Delaware has provided services to
women and their families in Delaware for over 120 years. The non-profit agency leads social
change, empowers women, girls and their families and advances our mission by offering
programs in the five key areas of Economic Empowerment, Housing, Racial Justice, Sexual
Assault Crisis and Youth Empowerment.
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