Philanthropy Files April 2019

“I will try to be brave. If you do not feel brave today, you may have some of mine. If I do not feel brave, I will borrow some of yours.” ~ Rev. Sara LaWall

I first heard Rev. Sara make that statement last April when the WCA was invited to speak to the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. During Rev. Sara’s two #MeToo services that day, she invited anyone who had a #MeToo story, and anyone who had someone they loved with a #MeToo story, to stand together in support and healing with one another. I still get choked up remembering the feeling of solidarity and the deep sorrow when, looking through my own tears, I saw that almost every person in the congregation had this shared experience regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender identity. It still haunts me.

One of the biggest program expansions we’ve had since last April is in the WCA’s student outreach programs. This school-year, the WCA Outreach Team will present to well over 1,000 individual junior high and high school students, engaging with many of the students multiple times. These students are learning about healthy relationships, healthy boundaries and consent. The newly named Youth REPs (Relationship Education Program) is a group of nine high school students from across the Treasure Valley who work closely with the WCA to create an empowering peer-to-peer network to talk about and model healthy relationships.

Think what that will make possible! This year’s junior and high school students are creating a culture of healthy relationships, healthy boundaries and consent that will reduce the number of sexual assaults and domestic abuse instances as they move through their life’s journey. Your financial support helps make this possible. This will culminate in a day where we can stand together in sharing the experience of healthy relationships and not the trauma of our #MeToo moments.

This is how we will achieve our vision of a community where individuals thrive in safe, healthy relationships.

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