Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Step Up and Share Your Power


YW changes women’s lives.  From first-time moms, to those learning to balance tight finances, to those seeking access to women’s breast healthcare, women look to us to make their lives better.  Changing lives is serious business, and we take our work seriously.
 
Sometimes the life changed is our own.  Two years ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with a 14-year old mother, Angelica.  Her baby, Sebastian, was six months old at the time, and Angelica was sharing with me how she juggles middle school and a new baby.   I kept thinking about my baby, who was 15 at the time.  How my baby only has to worry about what she’s going to wear to school that day, and did she finish her homework (often in that order!). 

I thought about how two young women can be born into this world and have two vastly different experiences, sets of worries, and two vastly different opportunities in life.  And as I held Sebastian, I thought about what his life would be like.  What kind of love and care would surround him?  What future would he have being born to a 7th-grade mom?

And then I realized, because his mom had chosen YW as a partner to help her during his first two years of life, his future was bright.  The moment Angelica chose YW, Sebastian’s life was changed.  Angelica’s life was changed.  And so was mine.  Never have I met such an articulate young woman.  Never have I met someone so determined to be successful in school and in life – despite the obstacles in her way.

When I come to YW every day, I don’t think of the challenges facing Angelica and Sebastian, I think of their drive to make their lives better.  I think what can I do today, to make sure YW is there for other women of all ages ready to take action?  Ready to make a change?

I can’t do it alone.  It will take each of us as concerned women and men, coming together to Share our Power.   Join us in changing lives.

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