Inaugural Women Helping Women Week aims to bring attention to issues women face in Spokane

The runners captured midstride in Riverfront Park’s iconic work of public art will look a little different after Tuesday morning.

That’s when a group from Spokane’s inaugural Women Helping Women Week will begin decorating the statues in flower crowns and purple shirts as part of a broader effort to “call out the issues women are facing in Spokane,” said Heather Hamlin, executive director of the Women Helping Women Fund.

That broader effort kicks off Sunday, International Women’s Day, and really gets underway Monday, when Mayor Nadine Woodward will read a proclamation declaring March 8-14 Women Helping Women Week during a City Council meeting.

Organizers will also aim to bring attention to the week – and to its cause – by flooding downtown with purple lights, everywhere from MultiCare Deaconess Hospital to the Steam Plant to the Pavilion at Riverfront. Purple, after all, “is a symbolic color for women internationally” and the official color of Women Helping Women, Hamlin said.

The effort to celebrate and support women will also extend online. Organizers are encouraging local women to share their stories via social media prompts using #WHWWSpokane and #OurGirlSpokane and tagging @WHWFSpokane.

Hamlin said the overarching aim is to not only “uplift” and “recognize” women, but to draw attention to the many hurdles women and girls have to overcome in a society in which the odds are against them.

Helping women understand and overcome those hurdles is something the Women Helping Women Fund has been doing since 1992. The Spokane-based nonprofit provides grants and scholarships to enact the group’s mission of “empowering women and children to create healthy families and vibrant communities.”

The group also recently produced a report, “Changing Our Forecast: State of Women and Children,” that offers a deep dive into issues ranging from the average monthly cost for two young children in childcare in 2017 to rates of child abuse and neglect to the percentage of single mothers receiving treatment for mental health issues in 2017.

Each day of the week will be devoted to issues detailed in the report.

Tuesday will focus on encouraging equitable opportunities for all. Wednesday’s focus is on increasing prenatal care and supports. Thursday will be about the need for quality, affordable childcare. Friday’s focus is social support for youth and the reminder that we’re all in this together. Saturday will draw attention to the pay gap between men and women, who make less on average than their male counterparts for the same kinds of work.