Intro
Welcoming. That word and concept is more critical now than it has ever been. Intentionally creating spaces that honor, elevate and even celebrate differences across the beautiful tapestry of humanity in all our communities can be the antidote to the hate, fear, polarization and marginalization that is plaguing our nation and world.
During times of such challenge, conflict and intolerance, we must remember that our country, at its foundation, is a nation of immigrants. Throughout our history, and across generations, we have often been united by our struggle to find a home, obtain wealth, gain access and build a community that we can feel safe in, that we feel we belong to – for ourselves, our families and our children.
Chad (second from left) with YMCA of San Francisco colleagues at the opening of the Edwin & Margaret Lee Tung Lok Early Childhood Learning Center.
We know that is often those who have most recently immigrated to the U.S.––our newcomer and immigrant neighbors, friends, families and colleagues ––that face some of the starkest inequities, injustices and challenges, frequently grounded in xenophobia, islamophobia, racism and anti-Blackness. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and with education comes a responsibility to act on the knowledge we have been privileged to obtain.
(Side note, if you have not yet had a chance to participate in the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond’s Undoing Racism workshop, or explored their organizing principles, I encourage you to do so; it is, or can be, life changing and incredibly relevant to our shared work of building a kinder, more compassionate, inclusive, and just world for all.)
Welcoming Week can be a manifestation, if we lean into it, of what is most beautiful about our nation and world: togetherness, connectedness, harmony and peace.
second graf
Stronger Together
As we celebrate our annual Welcoming Week in partnership with Welcoming America, every Y’s participation in this effort takes on new meaning today. It is our chance to step forward into every one of the 10,000-plus communities across the U.S. in which the YMCA is present and trusted, and enduringly model inclusion, equity and love. We can, and should, affirm that we believe––now and forever––that what unites us will always be stronger than what divides us, and while the Y has long been a catalyst for positive social change, we also have so much more work to do.
Yes, the Y has often been a place for people of all walks of life to come together to find common ground and address the most pressing issues facing our communities. That is certainly true, yet we must and can do more. We can ask ourselves: how are we providing opportunities for our members, staff, volunteers and youth to find common ground? How can we help all people experience what true, unconditional ‘welcoming’ feels like, and find spaces of connection across the ever-growing chasms of divide we see across so many dimensions of diversity? We have an opportunity to say to those who may have nowhere else to go that we are here for and with you, that we see you and that you are welcome here at the Y.
Welcoming Week can be a manifestation, if we lean into it, of what is most beautiful about our nation and world: togetherness, connectedness, harmony and peace. And in doing so, the concept of ‘welcoming’ will transcend a week.
We, at the Y, have an opportunity––not just today or this week, but every day––to be the face, place and space that people in our communities think of when they hear the word 'welcoming.'
third graf
Experiencing the Feeling of Being Welcomed Firsthand
As a 24-year Y professional, and an openly gay Asian American whose husband is a newcomer from Thailand, my family and I have both experienced the very best of our country, and it’s not so pleasant sides. We have found a ‘third place’ in many Ys in Honolulu, New York, Chicago and now San Francisco, and have also encountered racism, Asian hate and homophobia so thick and tangible it caused deep harm and brought us to tears. We know how it feels to have our access to the Y hinge on the young adult or senior at the Y welcome desk and their willingness to work with us. We rely on their ability to have compassion, to understand my husband’s accent, to have grace for what they may see as our mismatched last names and genders, to be patient with our need for us to be accepted as a family and to help us find a way to belong.
Here at the YMCA of San Francisco, we strive to be a model of welcoming. Our mission is to build healthy, equitable and sustainable communities for all generations where you can Be, Belong and Become. We aim to bring Welcoming Week to every one of our 15 branches across San Francsico, San Mateo and Marin counties this year. We have a community-centered approach that includes awareness, celebration and education. Some examples of our activities this year include food festivals at our afterschool sites hosted by parents representing their countries of origin, mapping activities at our facility locations, global dance and group exercise classes, and other staff and board engagement activities.
Today and always, it is my hope that we find, deep within our hearts, the humility and honesty to do profound and unrelenting personal work with our own biases, privilege and life journeys––the beautiful and ugly, the hopeful and harmful. I hope that we can find the space to open our hearts to an individual, family or community that is different from us and engage in conversations to learn more about their journeys, beliefs, values––and to genuinely seek to understand.
We, at the Y, have an opportunity––not just today or this week, but every day––to be the face, place and space that people in our communities think of when they hear the word “welcoming.” We can truly light up an often seemingly dark world through kindness, inclusion and the consistent and intentional act of being welcoming across divides.
Contact your local Y or use this map to find Welcoming Week activities happening near you.
