Dear Friends,
2015 has been an incredible year for all of us at Women With A Vision. This year WWAV celebrates twenty-six years of grassroots work to improve the lives of marginalized women, their families, and communities. Our programming and staff has grown this year, and so much of that comes from your support!
In 1989, our foremothers first came together with a mission. From various health and human services posts across the city, they knew that HIV/AIDS was devastating the African-American community, and they saw that not one of the city’s agencies had put the health and wellbeing of our community at the center. If our people were to have the tools to protect and promote their health, the WWAV foremothers knew it was up to them. And so they met at dusk, after long days of work, to make harm reduction and wellness packets. Into the late hours, they walked the streets of the neighborhoods they were raised in, talking with those who had at best been forgotten, and at worst had been left to die. In this intimate space, they brought people into relationships and into care. They turned neighborhood bars into underground needle exchanges; they brought hope to people who had too little.
In the decades since then, we have continued our work to build the better world we envision. We cannot thank you enough for your time, your heart, and your dedication as you have stood with us to elevate the organizing work of African-American women in the Deep South.
In 2015, WWAV has seen so many successes – new programming, new staff, and a new temporary office space. And in 2016, we hope you can stand with us as we guide our programs and visions into the future. We ask today that you take a moment to support Women With A Vision in building our program work forward into the next decade. Whether you support the work we do to ensure sex workers’ bodily rights and autonomy, to fight the criminalization of drug users, to uplift the stories of incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated women, to develop leaders amongst LGBTQ Black communities in the Deep South, to educate around the reproductive health and justice of poor women — please consider making a financial contribution to support a piece of this important work to shift the landscape of ill-health, inequality, and criminalization that marginalized women and their families face in our communities.
Any donation is appreciated, whether it be $10, $25, $50, $100 or more! Your support is valued, appreciated, and helps to sustain us day in and day out. 2016 promises to be another amazing year for us, and your contribution will go towards our work fighting for human rights for marginalized women and their families across New Orleans and the South.
At WWAV, we believe in a world without violence, in a world where we can all come together to realize our hopes and our dreams. With you, we can achieve that vision in our lifetimes.
In struggle and love,
Women With A Vision, Inc.