Systems Change & Public Policy
Working Toward A More Equitable Community
YWCA is a nonpartisan organization that believes in supporting policies that promote the well-being of women and girls of color.
Advocacy Priorities
The intersectional nature of our mission – eliminating racism, empowering women – centers women and girls of color in our advocacy work. YWCA Central Carolina’s advocacy work is guided by the following priorities:
- Economic Mobility – Upward mobility for children in poverty is more difficult in Charlotte than in any of the country’s 50 largest cities, according to researchers at Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley. Children born at the bottom of the income ladder have a 4 to 5 percent chance of reaching the top, the study found.
- Affordable Housing – As the nation’s third-fastest growing city, Charlotte is seeing home prices increase by as much as nine percent, contributing to longstanding concerns about affordability for working families.
- Racial Profiling – Officer-involved killings nationwide has further eroded trust between police and minorities. Though African-Americans make up less than a third of Charlotte’s driving-age residents, they are pulled over by police more frequently, receive more tickets and are the subjects of roadside searches twice as often as whites, according to a study by a UNC-Chapel Hill research team.
Policy Priorities
YWCA Central Carolinas’ Racial Justice & Advocacy program works to ensure that community members are educated and aware of legislation and bills that would help ensure a more equitable community for all individuals, particularly people of color. Below are policies and movements that we support:
- End Racial Profiling and Criminalization of People of Color
We must eliminate policies and practices, like racial profiling, that criminalize people of color and other marginalized communities. - Protect and Support Immigrant Women, Children, and Families
We must ensure that women, children, and families seeking safety and opportunity are kept together and free while their immigration claims are fully and appropriately considered. - Support Girls of Color Who Are Trauma Survivors
Girls of color who have experienced trauma must have improved access to community resources for trauma survivors, including in the education and juvenile justice systems. - Support the United Nations’ Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Goals
We will work together with our global sisterhood of YWCAs to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere, and ensure women and girls’ full and effective leadership participation at all levels of political, economic, and public life.
Empowerment & Economic Advancement
Ensuring women have equitable pay and access to needed resources for workplace support is vital.
- Improve Women’s Economic Security by Expanding Access to Sick, Safe, and Family Leave
Women should never have to choose between their job and their health or loved ones. Every worker deserves job-protected safe leave, and paid sick and family leave. - Remove Childcare and Housing Barriers to Women’s Workplace Participation
Improving access to quality affordable childcare and housing helps promote successful workplace participation for women, especially women of color.
You can watch segments from YWCA and Captech’s YWomenVote series in which expert panelists discuss the health and safety policies that we can support to continue empowering women and girls of color.
Health & Safety
Ensuring women have equitable pay and access to needed resources for workplace support is vital.
- Promote Federal Legislation to Support Survivors of Gender-Based Violence
We will strengthen federal legislation that supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of gender-based violence. - Improve Maternal Health Outcomes for Women of Color
We must address racial health disparities by reducing maternal mortality rates and improving maternal health outcomes for women of color. - Ensure Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care for Women and Girls
The healthcare infrastructure currently provided by the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare, state health insurance programs, and reproductive health service providers must remain strong and viable in order to support women and families.
What You Can Do
YWCA’s public policy work is strengthened with your support. Use your voice by:
- Attending a City Council or County Commissioner meeting.
- Writing your legislator about issues that matter to you and the community.
- Find your legislators here.
- Use this sample letter template to write to your legislator.
- Volunteering with a political party.
- Track a bill to see if it has been passed.
