Happy New Year

I was looking back at the last few new year messages and they seem to bring up the same themes – hope, opportunity, challenges, and gratitude. North Sound ACH is entering its 11th year and partnerships with community organizations drive the work we engage with and how we approach our role as opportunities are presented.

We are always grateful for your trust and the aligned commitment you have to improve the lives and well-being of the people in communities across the region. 

For the past month, our team has been supporting efforts in Whatcom and Skagit counties related to flood response, and we offer huge thanks to those on the ground in flood impacted communities.  We made a commitment during COVID, and the 2021 flood response, that we would support the counties and local health jurisdictions during times of crisis like this. There are amazing folks who stand up emergency operations during climate events (flooding, extreme heat, cold weather), disease outbreaks, wildfires, and at other times. North Sound ACH offers to help with organizing the community organization response that surrounds the more formal disaster responders. We have been grateful to the weather that we have not yet had the deep cold of winter, but we know it could come at any time. 

A few years ago our team crafted concepts under a heading of Leading with Love – curiosity, courage, care, compassion, and connection. They help us bridge relationships, even when it’s not easy. It is more than adopting a set of principles though; it requires that we practice them every day, with each other and with our partners. It can help us get unstuck, and open our minds to new ways of viewing what happens around us. 

I try to imagine a country where these five elements were front and center – how differently would we respond to disagreement and conflict? Could curiosity replace fear and presumption? Could compassion take the place of judgement? Could connection help us prevent isolation and siloed thinking? Can we see and interact with each other without presuming the person in front of us intends to inflict harm?

I know we are not alone in being emotionally impacted by the recent deaths in Minnesota, No one should expect that their right to protest will be met with deadly force, especially without consequence. The continued ‘breaking’ into us-versus-them is causing harm to the fabric of communities, but also to the rights that we believe we have – to peacefully protest in the face of injustice. Disagreement in of itself is not a threat; but there is a growing climate across the country that people who protest are un-American, when it is the very essence of what makes – or should make – this country unique.

A colleague’s recent newsletter contained a reminder that none of us can sit on the sidelines. It might seem safer on those sidelines, but I am not safe if I stay behind closed doors and refuse to engage with the conflicts around us. If we stay in our own bubble we are putting the heart of our community and nation at risk. The Vital Conditions for Well-being have Belonging and Civic Muscle at the center. We have the knowledge and power to take care of people around us, and assure that their voices, as well as our own, are heard. It may contain risk, but we all face greater risks when we are silent.  

One of our partners shared a story on social media that pointed to what is possible when we use our civic muscle – seven months ago a person was stopped by multiple ICE agents as they were leaving a landscaping job. They were charged with ‘assault with a deadly weapon’ on four of the ICE agents. After months in federal detention, challenges to the family, expenses to retain counsel and stay in touch, the trial was completed in the past week. While the prosecution brought all eight ICE agents to testify, the defense brought one – a coworker who testified about the person’s role in the community. After five days of evidence, the jury deliberated for 27 minutes and found the person not guilty on all counts. (Seattle King5 news clip)

It does not diminish the harm to the individual who was detained and their family, but looking at national media we know that the outcome could have been much worse. As we begin this new year, I hope that we all continue to look for ways to stand beside each other, to offer support before and when it’s asked for. We will accomplish more together than we can when standing alone. 

I’m often asked about our organization’s commitment to belonging as if the concept is something soft and ‘nice.’ A commitment to belonging is both simple and hard, and the journey is long. But every day someone else joins this journey with us, and that makes all the difference. We stand together in this work. 

Thank you for all you do –