Mary Galligan | YWCA Women of Excellence Honoree
What inspires you to get up and do the work?
I am inspired in my volunteer work by the same things that inspired me during my professional career: the many, many public servants and community volunteers who work hard every day for the common good.
What have you learned about yourself through the challenges you have overcome?
I have learned how little I can achieve on my own compared to how much can be achieved by a community working together.
How do you take care of yourself?
I do things that interest me-- writing, drawing, reading, cooking, connecting with friends, and keeping the body parts in working order (mostly!) -- and avoid things I find boring and purposeless.
What is the best advice you've ever been given? Or what advice do you have for others?
"Go to college." That was good practical advice and an affirmation from my first mentor when others were pushing me in less productive directions.
What is your vision for our community? Has it changed through the pandemic and racial justice reckoning of recent years?
My hope for Topeka is that it grows to be a much more open and accepting community in which the residents recognize what they have in common -- rather than what separates them from one another. That aspiration hasn't changed much since I moved here in the late 1970s. The pandemic set us back. Renewed attention to eliminating systemic racism may help us move forward.
The mission of YWCA is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. What does YWCA's mission mean to you?
Peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all cannot be achieved if inequality continues to be valued and remains central to all too many societal functions. Racism and gender inequality are the most obvious barriers to peace, justice, freedom, and dignity -- but they are not the only barriers. The mission says to me that I need to be constantly on the lookout for barriers to dismantle.
