Vote in Municipal Elections on Tuesday, August 3! |
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Women’s Voices position:
Support Proposition R (Vote YES!)
Proposition R is a tax levy proposal that would provide much-needed funding for St. Louis Community College (STLCC) and its students.
The proposition will be on the August 3 ballot in St. Louis and St. Louis County and parts of Franklin and Jefferson counties covered by the St. Louis Community College district.
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Women’s Voices position:
Oppose Webster Groves Proposition 1
(Vote NO!)
What Proposition 1 does: Webster Groves is having a special election in August prompted by citizens who wish to repeal Ordinance #9145, which was recently passed by City Council. Ordinance #9145 increases the range of housing options in Webster Groves by allowing property owners to replace a single family dwelling with a two family residential unit.
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Call Your Senators: Recess Can Wait, Democracy Can’t |
Whatever our color, background, or zip code, in America, we deserve to have the true promise of democracy made real for us all. We need to pass the For the People Act (S.1.) to protect our freedom to vote and ensure that we all have a say in the key decisions that impact our lives--from racial justice, to jobs, to health care, to infrastructure. The For the People Act has wide bipartisan support across the country; it is a turning point for our nation. Call your senators and demand passage of the For the People Act before the August recess. Call your Senators at 1-888-453-3211.
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Racial Justice Movie Club |
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Wednesday, August 25, 7 p.m.
Dolly Chugh, social psychologist at the NYU Stern School of Business, discusses her book, The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias. Chugh discusses how to address our biases in every aspect of our lives and the importance of practicing vulnerability to show up for those who lack privilege.
Participants should watch the video prior to the August 25 discussion.
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Environmental Racism: Alive and Well in St. Louis |
Black children in the City of St. Louis are 2.4 times more likely than White children to test positive for lead in their blood. Black children in St. Louis make roughly 10 times more emergency room visits for asthma each year than White children do. Black St. Louisans are disproportionately harmed by lead poisoning, asthma, mold, and high energy costs—all associated with factors such as substandard housing conditions and air pollution due to living near industrial facilities, highways, and building demolitions. Indeed, environmental racism is alive and well here where we live.
Please consider joining the Women’s Voices Racial Justice Committee. All are welcome to attend the committee’s next meeting, on Zoom, on August 19 at 8 a.m. Contact [email protected] to learn more.
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COVID-19 amplified inequality – by race as well as income, gender, occupation, and nationality.
Thanks to your support, Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice continues to educate and advocate for policies to right these inequalities through programs and advocacy.
Please consider donating to our 2021 Annual Campaign so we can continue to provide high-quality programs that are free and open to the public and opportunities to act on our values. There is strength in our collective voice!
Are you eligible for a matching gift? Ask your employer today if you can double your donation to Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice.
Thank you!
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Affordable Housing Task Force Hits the Ground Running |
The newly formed Affordable Housing Task Force hit the ground running in July with 14 members and its first initiative. Partnering with the Advocacy Committee, we invited our members to vote on whether to support Webster Groves’s Proposition 1. This proposition will ask voters on August 3 to vote for or against amendments made to the existing zoning code allowing for additional opportunities to increase affordable housing stock in Webster. Women’s Voices members who voted endorsed the task force’s recommendation to vote NO on Prop 1, which, paradoxically, supports changes to the existing zoning laws initially decided upon by the Webster Groves City Council. We are also encouraging all Women’s Voices members from Webster to encourage their neighbors to vote in this important referendum.
Going forward, the task force will focus on increasing affordable housing in the central corridor’s communities of opportunity. To achieve this goal, we will implement a number of key strategies, including (1) increasing public awareness of the geography of inequity in our area due to historical governmental policies, (2) increasing members’ understanding of affordable housing barriers and opportunities, (3) organizing our members from two or three communities to advocate for affordable housing, and (4) identifying and developing working relationships with likely partners to promote affordable housing developments in identified communities. In the coming months we will be meeting with city council members and other officials to introduce ourselves and offer our support to their efforts to increase affordable housing. If you are interested in joining the Affordable Housing Task Force, please contact co-chairs Barbara Finch or Liz Sondhaus at [email protected]. Our next meeting is Thursday, August 12, at 2 p.m. via zoom.
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Lock It for Love Receives Technical Assistance Grant |
Lock It for Love recently received a technical assistance grant from Washington University Center for Community Health Partnership and Research to improve our efficiency in capturing data and to support collaboration and communication among our volunteers. We will be working with IllumiLab, a local consulting firm that focuses on supporting non-profit organizations, to develop a relational database and an online system for entering information about our events, partnerships, lock inventory and lock distribution. Additionally, the new system will let us access information through both structured reporting and ad hoc queries. We expect that we will be able to more efficiently enter and review information to assess how well we are meeting our goals, to provide data to potential funders, and to inform our planning and decision-making.
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Women's Voices Members respond to injustice! |
Pamella Gronemeyer, in her letter to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, writes that she had hoped that her Illinois congressional representative Davis had not withdrawn from the panel investigating the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol.
Individual members' letters do not necessarily reflect the position of the organization.
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Looking for tips on writing letters to your newspaper? Click HERE for general guidelines
on writing a letter to the editor and contact information for Missouri newspapers.
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Have something to submit for Loud & Clear?
Loud & Clear is the official monthly e-newsletter of Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice and is usually distributed on the first Monday or Tuesday of the month. The general deadline for article submission is the Wednesday prior to publication. Click here to contact editor Laura Rose.
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Even if you can’t come to meetings or become personally involved, your membership is important…and greatly appreciated.
Benefits of Membership
When you join Women’s Voices you:
- Make our voice stronger when we advocate with elected officials.
- Provide support to the organization by adding your name to our advocacy efforts.
- Provide ideas and suggestions to help determine how to define our positions and choose our causes.
- Participate in advocacy activities in any way that you want or is possible for you.
- Take pride in your affiliation with a strong, progressive group of women working for social justice.
- Help cover our administrative and outreach costs through your dues.
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Annual Dues:
$40 (Regular Membership)
$75 (Silver Level)
$100 (Gold Level)
$10 (Student Membership)
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or
Send a check (payable to Women's Voices) to:
Women's Voices
7401 Delmar Blvd.
University City, MO 63130
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