Grab a Friend. Grab a Shovel.

By Liz Jansen, Executive Director

I mean, is it just me or is everyone else getting absolutely rocked by 2025? This year has been such a steaming pile of poo, and I’m not going to try to address all the things that are happening or all the grief we need to process. Instead, I’m going to harken back to a month after the first Trump election. That December, our co-founders met up with a few folks at Hopewell Brewing to gather in community and support some cool local causes. That first meetup evolved and grew into Women Unite!.

As someone who is very future focused and task oriented (Aries, baby! 🐏 ♈), I tend to view WU!’s biggest contributions in terms of the outcomes we achieve each year for our partners and clients—the dollars raised, grants awarded, hours of free and sliding-scale services provided—all of the tasks we cross off our to-do lists each day that move our work forward.

In this never-ending season of “what the actual fuck,” I’m realizing that day back in December 2016 represents our greatest strength. That afternoon of gathering with friends and neighbors to support community work is our heart and soul. It’s what keeps us tethered to compassion and care; it’s what nourishes our minds and spirits; and it’s what we’ll be focusing on this year.

Over the next few months, we’ll be co-hosting a variety of events and activations that allow us to show up for y’all and provide opportunities to build and maintain the relationships that will make us whole. Our goal with this year’s very packed schedule is to provide folks with a chance to get connected, get inspired, and get activated.

There’s a whole lotta crap we gotta get through, so grab a friend and a shovel and join us as we make our corners of the world a little less shitty.