A radio present based by two Vancouver girls goals to spotlight the voices of area people members whose tales typically go unheard.
“The Women’s Mosaic” radio present — based by Karen Morrison, chief govt officer of Vancouver nonprofit Odyssey World Worldwide Training Companies, and Elizabeth Madrigal, a group activist and author — materialized after the 2 related at a social justice occasion in Esther Quick Park in 2020. Their conversations on womanhood, race, group and ladies’s well-being impressed them to create “The Women’s Mosaic,” which is devoted to sharing the true lives of native girls by means of compelling, story-rich interviews and supply sources for change, Madrigal stated.
“We just connected in a way that really felt meaningful,” Madrigal stated. “We want it to be something that matters. We want to give the local resources and give the local guests whatever we can. It’s probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done, because we are bringing so many resources, education and hope.”
“The Women’s Mosaic” airs twice a month on KXRW, an impartial radio station in Vancouver. The present contains a various vary of company, together with native activists, nonprofit leaders, well being care advocates and state legislators, together with Sen. T’wina Nobles, D-College Place.
Abby Hollopeter, group engagement coordinator at Odyssey World, additionally serves as a manufacturing assistant for “The Women’s Mosaic.” She manages sound ranges, permitting Madrigal and Morrison to totally have interaction with their company throughout the present.
Hollopeter additionally captures content material for social media and helps the 2 hosts join with future company to be featured on “The Women’s Mosaic.”
“My job is to go find and listen to the community with some of the things they want to hear about,” Hollopeter stated.
In the newest episode, which aired on Feb. 11., Nobles and Paris Nelson, strategic improvement and coverage supervisor at Fourth Plain Ahead, mentioned the vital want for doulas and what the 2 are doing to enhance entry throughout the area.
“I want to be in the Legislature so that I am actually serving my community, especially as a Black woman,” Nobles stated. “I want to know I am a champion for issues that disproportionately affect the Black community. It’s not just a title or an ego, I really and truly want to make an impact.”
Elevating native voices
“The Women’s Mosaic” first aired in 2023, after Madrigal and Morrison related with Susan Galaviz, president of KXRW Vancouver, and shared a pitch for the radio present.
Morrison and Madrigal’s shared precedence was to raise the social and authorized standing of ladies with the intention to enhance girls’s well being, well-being and life expectancy, they stated.
“We found that we have such a richness of talent and expertise in this area, but there’s really no avenue for sharing those people and telling their stories,” Morrison stated. “It’s been exciting to have these different professionals. Access is one of the things we wanted to do.”
Odyssey World companions with different group organizations and academic establishments throughout Clark County to handle points affecting folks of shade and low-income communities, Morrison stated. She began the group together with her daughter in 2006, and since then, she stated the group has made headway however there are nonetheless challenges she faces as a Black girl in management.
Through the years, the group has advanced to handle meals insecurity and inexpensive housing, as effectively.
Morrison hopes “The Women’s Mosaic” can supply a secure area for girls to inform their tales and empower them by means of data, schooling and sources.
“We hope to highlight the fact that there are many of us doing social justice work. Right now, people are afraid. Youth are really nervous about their future,” Morrison stated. “We know injustices have happened in the past, and we can’t change that, but what we are finding easy to do is to speak to it, give referrals and give resources.”
“The Women’s Mosaic” doesn’t simply converse on a subject and depart listeners hanging. It additionally provides listeners sources, Morrison stated.
The following episode of “The Women’s Mosaic” will air at 7 p.m. March 11 and can function Donate Life Northwest Government Director Laura Ellsworth.
Episodes of the present air each second Tuesday of the month from 7 to 7:30 p.m., and each fourth Tuesday from 8:15 to eight:45 a.m. Previous episodes might be listened to by visiting The Girls’s Mosaic archive at kxrw.fm/the-womens-mosaic.
Neighborhood members can take heed to KXRW on 99.9 FM, on XRAY.FM at 107.1, 1.1 FM (Portland), 91.7 FM (Nehalem, Ore.) and on-line at KXRW.FM.
“I hope that people just value their health more, their mental health. I love women because we’re kind and giving, but don’t get enough self-care,” Madrigal stated. “I’m not talking about going to the spa. I’m talking about getting enough sleep or even getting your pap smear. We need to really take care of ourselves.”