For the past several months, as the canyons of opinion and negativity have deepened around our country, I have felt a compelling need to focus as much as possible on the positive: how can we stitch together divides by listening? How we can champion inclusivity? How we can make the table bigger?
Dear Friends,
This week, the Community Foundation was a hive of activity.
In one conference room, our ELPASO school readiness coordinators reported on the shift in tone of their door-to-door visits: traditionally, our coordinators’ visits have been education-focused; but recently, the families they’re visiting need to express their fears, and are searching for resources and information.
Down the hall, our Open Door Fund advisory committee planned their upcoming gala to honor grantees and raise funds for our GLBTQ-focused grantmaking, in a world that feels to them less hospitable this week.
However you felt in the wake of last week’s election – whether you’re looking forward to a changing of the guard or shaking your head in disbelief – I was struck by those meetings. There were rolled up sleeves and deep listening and learning happening in every direction. There was compassion and motivation and action. Whatever Washington has in store, we at the Community Foundation are – and have been for a very long time – in the midst of working for our community, making lives better.
I am very proud of our work on both ELPASO and the Open Door Fund – and they are great examples of how we are a community catalyst. These programs have something in common: they give voice and opportunity to folks who aren’t always invited to the table.
For the past several months, as the canyons of opinion and negativity have deepened around our country, I have felt a compelling need to focus as much as possible on the positive: how can we stitch together divides by listening? How we can champion inclusivity? How we can make the table bigger? The Community Foundation has been for me – and many others around the county – a restorative place, a little like our recent “Super Moon!”
Happy Thanksgiving to you, and in this season of giving, please consider supporting the Community Foundation and the work we are doing to make our community a better place, a place we are proud to call home.
