2020 ROE Recipients
In keeping with WAM’s double philanthropic mission, we donated $1,500 each from the proceeds from ROE to the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts (ARFWM), Railroad Street Youth Project, and SisterSong. Theses are our 20th, 21st and 22nd recipients.
ABOUT THE ABORTION RIGHTS FUND OF WESTERN MA
The donation from WAM will help provide much needed assistance during COVID-19. COVID-19 has placed tremendous financial pressure on families across Massachusetts. People need our assistance now more than ever. We are facilitating access to time-sensitive, essential abortion health care to people in Massachusetts and beyond. At this critical time, we are making a point to pledge funds quickly and generously.
ARFWM promotes access to abortion health care by providing financial and logistical support to pregnant people through compassionate caller-centered care that respects their dignity and human rights.
The Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts is a community-based, all-volunteer organization dedicated to overcoming barriers to abortion health care.
We did a video interview to find out more about each organization, the challenges they are facing right now and how being a WAM recipient will impact their work.
ABOUT THE RAILROAD STREET YOUTH PROJECT:
The donation from WAM will help us to train new educators in evidence-based sexual health education, which serves 250 students in South County schools–the only program of its kind in the area.
Railroad Street Youth Project empowers young people by supporting youth-inspired projects that promote responsibility, self-worth and intergenerational communication.
At Railroad Street, youth take the lead. They explore their full potential and become equipped to meet the challenging transition to adulthood. Our professional staff expertly pairs youth-generated ideas with community resources, empowering youth to create and oversee a wide range of innovative, life-changing projects.
Unmatched in mission and scope, Railroad Street excels in helping youth find their voice and realize the benefits of their commitment to themselves and their community.
We did a video interview to find out more about each organization, the challenges they are facing right now and how being a WAM recipient will impact their work.
ABOUT SISTER SONG:
The donation from WAM will help us fight for Reproductive Justice* by supporting our Birth Justice work in Georgia, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. Through our Birth Justice programming, we organize Advanced Doula Trainings, we advocate for Community Midwives and Birth Workers, and we create community and learning space with our Mama Talks.
SisterSong was launched in 1997 to create and support a national RJ movement. Our founders were 16 women-of-color-led organizations across the US, representing 4 racial/ethnic groups. We are the oldest and largest multi-ethnic Reproductive Justice* organization, and the only one headquartered in the South – ground zero for the War on Women.
Our mission is to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of Indigenous women and women of color to ensure Reproductive Justice through securing human rights.
We did a video interview to find out more about each organization, the challenges they are facing right now and how being a WAM recipient will impact their work.
*What Is Reproductive Justice (RJ)?
Reproductive Justice was coined in 1994 by Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice, a group of Blackwomen who recognized that the white-led women’s rights movement was not prioritizing issues critical to women of color, and that we must represent our own communities. They defined Reproductive Justice (RJ) as the right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, determine the number and spacing of our children, and parent our children in safe and sustainable communities. RJ encompass all aspects of social justice, for all impact the self-determination of family life. The RJ framework is based on the Declaration of Human Rights. It addresses how multiple oppressions intersect to deny RJ, and centers achieving full rights for the most marginalized people in order to make our society truly free.
Special thanks to the WAM Beneficiary Committee for their hard work: Margaret Fluhr, Wendy Healey, Dori Parkman, Lia Russell-Self and Kristen van Ginhoven.
