Updates

AN UPDATE FROM WV FREE (MARCH 2020):

An Update From WV FREE

In light of the recent outbreak of COVID-19, we have implemented an emergency management plan to do our best to protect our staff, families, and our communities. West Virginia has confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in our state, and we want to slow the spread, including to rural communities & vulnerable populations, to help keep our (already limited) healthcare system from being overwhelmed.

Fortunately, our staff is well prepared to work remotely and are doing just that. We are suspending trainings and events for the foreseeable future. For the upcoming bowlathon and rollathon to support The Choice Fund and folks who need abortion access, we’re asking that you please donate or sign up to fundraise here.

We are focused on the needs of our communities and those hardest hit by this public health crisis: people of color, working class West Virginians and those living in poverty, LGBTQ folks, and children. Our hearts ache for what is happening to our communities.

But we are about action. Our team is already hard at work coming up with new ways to support and build community while driving forth with our mission. In fact, we have been part of an important prison justice effort, spearheaded by ACLU of WV and other partners. Click here to find out how to take action. We also were signatories to an important op ed published in the Charleston Gazette Mail, offering guidance to leaders and the public on appropriate policy responses to Covid-19, such as funding paid sick leave and public health, thanks to the leadership of West VirginiaCenter on Budget and Policy.

Indeed, we are thrilled to be working with our partners who haven’t skipped a beat in their advocacy. We are in regular contact with each other and are pooling our resources and bringing our unique talents to help meet community needs while driving forth our own social change missions. West Virginians always rise together to face challenges. And this is surely one of the biggest challenges in history.

Our phones and email are open, as ever, and you have our solemn pledge to keep up the fight for reproductive rights and justice in the Mountain State in solidarity with you and our state and national partners. Be safe, wash your hands, keep a decent distance, and take good care. If you or kids you know need food assistance, please visit https://wvde.us/covid19/feeding-site-information/.

We will be sharing resources on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts. Stay tuned and check in on your neighbors, friends!

Let’s take care of each other.