By Bridget Cooke. I heard the threefold verdict of guilty, guilty, guilty this afternoon with a deep sense of relief for George Floyd’s family, for the country and for the world. Joy Reid said it well, “Blaming the dead didn’t work this time….”

Guest blogger, Kaely Summers, interviews Adelante Mujeres staff about their experiences getting the COVID-19 vaccine and talks about why it’s more important than ever to live in solidarity with one another.

From guest blogger Angela V.! “ Since graduating, I can’t help but look at reading as a chore or task. The feeling of impending doom at the thought of being quizzed and not knowing some obscure passage from an assigned reading definitely informed my reading habits, for better or worse.”

This year we are highlighting the front-line responders, health professionals, community volunteers, transport and logistics managers, scientists and more — women who are making critical contributions to address the COVID-19 outbreak we have been living with for almost a year.

“Structures have sustained over-representation of white men who make extremely consequential decisions. Inequality is perpetuated without critical interventions. Adelante intervenes daily by empowering Latinas at every level, and I love it.”

Cheers to the New Year! And cheers to Casa Qui, Adelante Mujeres’s Retail Business Incubator, who turned a month old on January 4th, 2021! Located on the Main Street of Forest Grove, Casa Qui brings a splash of Latin and Mexican culture to the Downtown area.

As we end one of the most difficult years for most of the population in the world, we have the opportunity to start a new year. As I spent the last week reflecting on the last year, I discovered that everyone needed to adapt — to change, and change can’t be easy when the outside circumstances are the ones forcing us to change.