Our Day of Listening project was created to assess the racial temperatures of communities in order to inform how we move forward in future healing conversations. It’s a time for community members’ ideas of what would work best for them and their neighborhoods to be heard.

Healing conversations invite participants to identify their own past experiences with racial harm and how that trauma shows up in the present moment as a wound in need of healing, which has deep impact on the overall health and wellness of our communities. This process validates truth telling as central to racial healing. Conversations also provide space for participants to practice deep listening as a process of reconciliation and community-building. We encourage participants to share their truths, actively listen with compassion, and lean into discomfort.

If you are part of a group who would like to host a racial healing conversation, contact healing@ywcapgh.org if you are in the Greater Pittsburgh region, ywca@ywcalancaster.org if you are in Lancaster, or uthpa@ywcatricountyarea.org if you reside in the Tri-County Area.

Our Ambassador training offers participants 6 weeks of online learning done at their own pace followed by 2 days of online group learning led by professional facilitators. The training is a great opportunity to:

• gain experiences as a discussion facilitator

• build confidence in multicultural group settings

• enhance leadership and public speaking skills

• increase knowledge of racial healing practices

• strengthen personal, professional, and community networks

The Racial Healing Handbook by Dr. Anneliese A. Singh helps us confront privileges and reflect on our diverse experiences of race with the intention of healing, and we utilize this interactive text in our ambassador training.

If you’re interested in becoming a UTHPA ambassador, contact healing@ywcapgh.org if you are in the Greater Pittsburgh region, ywca@ywcalancaster.org if you are in Lancaster, or uthpa@ywcatricountyarea.org if you reside in the Tri-County Area.

We’re always seeking to partner with organizations and groups in PA who want to bring Days of Listening and Healing Conversations to different communities. Our partners:

• Participate and host a Day of Listening event in your community

• Host a minimum of one Healing Conversation with your community of constituents

• Attend collaborative community events and meetings

• Participate in our community survey

• Become part of our healing story

If you are part of a group that would like to become a community partner, contact healing@ywcapgh.org if you are in the Greater Pittsburgh region, ywca@ywcalancaster.org if you are in Lancaster, or uthpa@ywcatricountyarea.org if you reside in the Tri-County Area.

The National Day of Racial Healing is an annual observance started by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2017. It takes place on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and its goal is to establish a time for all community members to openly discuss the ways in which racism has harmed them in pursuit of restoring wholeness and cultivating trust. Truth-telling, active listening, and the ability to feel safe in vulnerability are all pieces of the process of racial healing. The National Day of Racial Healing is a call for communities to imagine a world free of racism and discrimination and determine changes that must be made to achieve racial equality.

YWCAs of Greater Pittsburgh, Lancaster, and Tri-County Area all host individual programming around the National Day of Racial Healing.