Hello everyone. My name is Heidi Deininger and I am the new Executive Director for YWCA Rock County. I’ve lived in Rock County for over 20 years. I love building relationships and partnerships and I am excited to increase how the YWCA can serve the community and meet the community where it’s at. I’m thrilled to lead such an important organization and am also looking forward to personally meeting you.
My parents were immigrants to the United States. After they graduated from the University of Chicago, they moved to Hawaii to serve immigrant populations and raise a family. My mother was from Germany and taught English as a second language at the University of Hawaii. My father was from the Philippines and served the Filipino pineapple plantation workers as a doctor/surgeon in their local community. Growing up in Hawaii I found so much support from the YWCA. I spent most of my afternoons as a young child at the YWCA in downtown Honolulu where I learned to swim, cook, sew, knit and crochet. I’m grateful for the role the YWCA played in my life and am excited to now lead the organization in Rock County.
In Hawaii we have a saying called “talk story.” To talk story is to converse, share experiences, be authentic and bond with those you are sharing? with. Once a month I’d like to talk story with you through our social media and share some of the highlights from the month about the amazing work that we are doing to serve our community. If this message resonates with you and touches your heart and you would like to make a gift, that information will also be provided.
If you have any questions for me, I would love to hear from you by contacting me directly at hdeininger@ywcarockcoc.com or by calling 608-752-5445 ext. 201. If you’d like to meet in person, I invite you to attend our 16th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event on September 29th at 5:30pm at the Town Square area in Downtown Janesville on Festival Street. We are looking forward to an amazing event benefiting our Domestic Violence Programs.
I am looking forward to talk story with you next month and share our work with you so that you know how much your support means to our organization and how we are directly impacting our community.
Aloha,
Heidi Deininger
Executive Director
YWCA Rock County
My first talk story topic is about the amazing ‘Walk a Mile’ event that took place on Thursday, September 29th at the Janesville Town Square.
It was our first time at this venue and an amazing place to celebrate this event in our 100th year of service to the community. It was a beautiful day and it warmed my heart to see our community comprised of YWCA staff, dedicated Board Members, volunteers and local businesses all participating to support our Alternatives to Violence Program and Transitions Apartments. Families, ambassadors and community members not only showed up to support our cause, but also walked a mile in high heel red shoes! Leaders from our community including Sue Conley, Mark Spreitzer, the Edgerton and Janesville Police Chiefs (just to name a few), also stopped by to educate the participants about domestic violence in our community. They also had a call to action: that if we continue to work together, we can collectively decrease Domestic Violence in our community.
When you walk in someone else’s shoes you are trying to imagine how you would feel or act if you were in the same situation as a particular person. I learned that the significance of ‘walking in her shoes’ dates back to 2001 when a small group of men decided to walk in high heel shoes as a declaration to stand up against domestic violence.
Take a moment to reflect, and then possibly respond. If you were there that day at our event and have a story you’d like to share, please send it to me at hdeininger@ywcarockco.com. If you feel that this story resonates with you, and you’d like to make a gift in support of or work, please send it to https://ywcarockcounty.networkforgood.com/projects/165028-2022-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes.
Thank you for talking story with me, I look forward to sharing with you next month.
Hello YWCA Rock County supporters! As I mentioned last month, in Hawaii we have a saying called “talk story.” To talk story is to converse, share experiences, be authentic and bond with those you are sharing with. Today’s talk story topic is about the NAACP Freedom Fund Gala, Beloit Branch, that took place on Friday, October 28th.
It was my first time attending this event and was excited to have a seat around the table. The YWCA purchases a table and attends this event each year with staff and volunteers. The event was held at the Celtic House at Glen Erin in Janesville and it was a full house! It was wonderful to see a beautiful group of BIPOC and white community members in one space celebrating diversity, equity, inclusion and lifting up racial justice. The key note speaker for the evening was Reverend Greg Luis and he presented a ‘fired-up’, passionate message, challenging us to get out and vote and to consider the power of the vote and what that means as a commitment to the state of racial justice in our world today. One of our Board Members, Ashley Morse, the first woman of color to serve as a Judge in Rock County, received the NAACP Presidential Award. Other winners were Ian Hedges: CEO of Health Net Rock County, Andre Sayles: Chief of Police with the Beloit Police Department and Nommo Donald: Vice President of Professional Services at Beloit Health Systems.
The YWCA will host its 8th annual Racial Justice Conference on November 10, 2022, virtually. If you’d like to learn more about Racial Justice and participate in the community conversation, you can register at https://www.ywcarockcounty.org/blog/event/racial-justice-conference-2022/.
Take a moment to reflect and then possibly respond. If you were at this event and have a story you’d like to share or would like to learn more about this event and attend next year, please contact me at hdeininger@ywcarockco.com.
If you feel that this story resonates with you, and you’d like to make a gift in support of our racial justice work, please send it to: https://ywcarockcounty.networkforgood.com/projects/174724-racial-justice.
Thank you for talking story with me, I look forward to sharing with you next month.
Hello YWCA Rock County supporters! As I mentioned last month, in Hawaii we have a saying called “talk story.” To talk story is to converse, share experiences, be authentic and bond with those you are sharing with. Today’s talk story topic is about our 8th Annual Racial Justice Conference held virtually on November 19, 2022.
It was exciting to see individuals and organizations from around Rock County in attendance at our Racial Justice Conference, thanks to all that participated!
I’d like to talk story about content that was shared in Dr. Decoteau J. Irby’s key note presentation. The entire presentation entitled, “Understanding your schools capacity for racial equity improvement”, was incredible, however, the thing that stood out for me was his perspective about beliefs vs. taking action.
He shared that in society, we often choose to believe something, then based on that belief we choose to do something. And sometimes in taking this approach, we wait, and wait, and wait, to do anything.
He then flipped the script and said that maybe we need to do something first, and after doing something, based on the outcome (whether it works or not), we form a belief.
In Science, it’s like developing a hypothesis and then testing it. Based on the results of the experiment, you form an opinion which you can back up because you have data to either prove or disprove it.
Love it! So now lets apply it to the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Don’t wait to do something, just do something. It will work or not work. Based on what happens, form a belief. Based on what you learn, do better next time and formulate a better plan for success. But is waiting for the right moment, the right way to approach your personal or organizational DEI journey? Or do you find yourself waiting, and waiting, and waiting, until there is no longer a passion to take the journey?
Take a moment to reflect, and then possibly respond. If you were at this event and have a story you’d like to share or would like to learn more about this event and attend next year, please contact me at hdeininger@ywcarockco.com.
If you feel that this story resonates with you, and you’d like to make a gift in support of our racial justice work, please send it to: https://ywcarockcounty.networkforgood.com/projects/174724-racial-justice
Thank you for talking story with me, I look forward to sharing with you next month.