Why I’m supporting RCWMS

Let me introduce myself. I’m Christine, and I want to let you know why I’m supporting RCWMS this December.

Exactly a year ago, I pretty much gave up on the nonprofit sector. I had just lost my job and was floundering about seeking clarity and a place to land. I was questioning who I was and why on earth I had gone to divinity school and social work school. 

I didn’t know it then, but what I needed most was someone to say, “It’s ok that you don’t know, just come and be here.” So I did. I spent Tuesdays in the Resource Center, the building that was once Watts Street Grocery, to drink tea, grieve the political landscape, and take trips to the post office with Jeanette Stokes. I have learned about Durham’s rich activist history, Pauli Murray’s ministry, and the Japanese Tea Ceremonies at Duke Gardens.

RCWMS has cultivated a community of visionaries, the kind of visionaries that I would read about in Feminist and Womanist Theology at Guilford, who gave me hope in change, revolution, and peace. I am so grateful for the opportunity this organization has offered me to show up authentically, to remember who I am, and to feel inspired once again. 

Here are just some of the things RCWMS does: 

1) Critiques the patriarchy 
2) Supports grassroots activism 
3) Lifts up folx who feel lost and unsure how to lean into their gifts 
4) Runs programs that focus on emotional intelligence, the arts, and justice 
5) Functions out of a trust that we have who and what we need to cultivate wholeness. Too many nonprofits function out of a place of false scarcity. The Resource Center doesn’t.  

I have had the privilege of hanging out here over the past year and also serving on the Board of Trustees. Over and over again, I am reminded of the power of community. When we build up community, build networks, create lasting relationships, really know our neighbors, magic happens. Please join me in giving to this rad nonprofit.