To the astonishment of some students in the audience, Jen Morley opened her presentation on social change Thursday evening with one simple invitation: “Let’s play a game.”
As co-founder of the DC Childcare Collective, Morley wanted to show students exactly what her organization is known for — providing fun child care for individuals who work for Washington’s social activism organizations. However, the theme of the evening went beyond just fun and games; for the students who attended, it was an opportunity to learn more about how they could make a difference in their own communities.
Morley was joined by three other local volunteers for the panel discussion, which was sponsored by the Voices of Social Change campus group. After audience members settled down from the impromptu game of “A Cold Wind Blows” — an alternate type of musical chairs — the panelists spoke about their efforts to empower low-income families and social advocates in Washington.
Panelist Parisa Norouzi, a co-founder and executive director of Empower DC, discussed her organization’s work in advocating for affordable housing and child care, school closures, education and environmental justice. She argued the leaders for enacting social change are often not politicians, but average citizens.
“The people who are most affected by the decision are the ones who have to have the most input into the decision,” Norouzi said. “And the people directly impacted are also the experts.”
Norouzi said it often takes several generations to foster systematic change, so her organization focuses on the individuals. She and other volunteers work to challenge community members to develop “a greater sense of confidence in advocating for themselves.”
“What our main, basic job is as community organizers is to make the issue visible, to put power behind the demand,” she said.
However, Norouzi said before the formation of the DCC, her organization struggled to provide quality childcare for its volunteers.
“I used to call up my friends and ask them to volunteer, and sometimes we didn’t have anybody,” Norouzi said. “I would be trying to facilitate a meeting and keep the crayons out of the two-year-olds’ mouths and kids would be running around.”
When members of the organization testified at D.C. City Hall for funding one year, they were forced to hold childcare in the hall outside the council chamber.
“The secretary of the council came and threatened us with arrest,” Norouzi said. “It was crazy. We realized that this ad hoc, thrown-together childcare wasn’t working. It wasn’t the kind of childcare folks deserved and needed.”
Thankfully, former mayor Adrian Fenty, who was then a councilman, offered his office as a refuge for the children. It was this incident that led several volunteers to launch the DCC, based on similar groups in New York and San Francisco.
The two organizations have worked in conjunction for many years, and along the way, the DCC has picked up numerous consistent partners, including ONE DC, the Latino Economic Development Corporation and the Women’s Collective. According to Morley, the DCC provides at least two volunteers to every gig, and they work to provide safe, empowering and fun childcare while parents and guardians fight to make their voices heard.
Before joining the DCC, volunteer Graham Alldredge said he would never have considered childcare as a social justice issue.
“Fundamentally, we believe that every child deserves excellent childcare,” he said.
Students in the audience also took the opportunity to pose questions or sign up as volunteers for the DCC.
Freshmen business major Mandy Yard said she attended the discussion to “see how a real organization was working to help change society.”
DCC volunteer Liz Whitehurst encouraged all students to get involved with community advocacy.
“It’s really important to do social justice work in the way that you want to see the world,” she said.
