Blog

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 –

At this year’s Washington State Public Health Association conference, I had the honor of being on a panel with two incredibly brave and gracious human beings – Genaro Sanchez, with O.U.R. Journey, and Joseph Hunter, who works with a partner ACH, Thriving Together North Central Washington, where they shared their stories about what reentry and healing look like, and how often we put community members in one single box, and never let them emerge and grow. A farmworker is one box, but we don’t often think of them as leaders, business owners, and influencers. For Genaro and Joseph, they shared their lived experience in the systems of incarceration and addiction AND showed their journey of healing. Their ‘lived experience’ spans much further than one box – both are organizational leaders, mentors, trainers, board members, students, parents, and so much more. Sharing space with them provided me hope and sustenance which allowed me to prepare for the next day and the day after that. Feeling so much gratitude. 

As we head deep into the fall, many in the community are awaiting the next announcement about cutbacks, shutdowns, reduced benefits, and additional requirements for limited services. North Sound ACH is meeting with leaders across the region who work in spaces around food, especially after recent announcements that SNAP benefits will not be paid in November. We are preparing scenarios for our board’s budget decisions, trying to find ways that we can leverage any discretionary funds that we hold – asking where can we best be of help? In thinking of a possible January Convening, one possibility is to have it be focused around the question we pose often – who is looking for help, and who can step in and be of help? Because at the end of the day, it is most often communities that step in to help others in the community. 

Human beings hold many truths at one time, and it can be incredibly exhausting. For example, I want my family to be happy and healthy, and I am angry for what the future might hold for them. I want to enjoy the change of seasons, and I am so concerned about those who are in unstable housing, and how budget changes will only increase their vulnerability. I have hope for our future, not because of who might be elected, but because of you and the work you do, even when your own positions might be threatened with reductions and cutbacks. We see you and hear your voices. 

As you look to each other – whether in your own organizations or out in the community – know that many people are hurting, some which is visible, but often it is invisible. We/they bring brave faces and smiles forward. Humans have the capacity to hold multiple contradictions in place, and then sometimes one of those contradictions can topple us. Coming from a large family, it could be the birth of a new grandchild on the same day that another family member attempts suicide; another gets married while a cousin overdoses. Both of my parents passed on birthdays of a grandchild, and those young people talk about how the core memory of their birthdays changed. 

We hold a lot, and I ask that as we head into shorter daylight hours and a typically stressful time of year, that we give grace for the burdens we each carry. Be kind, be curious, be courageous, and most of all be present if someone needs us. In April of 2023, there was a New York Times article that stayed with me. It offered a question you could ask if a friend, colleague, or family member was struggling or upset – “do you want to be helped, heard, hugged?” Compassion comes in many forms, and we will need compassion as we fight the tangible and necessary fights to help communities get the food, health care, housing, and other supports that we desperately need. 

Congressman John Lewis is on my mind as well, encouraging us to engage in “good trouble, necessary trouble” to fight for justice, challenge injustice, and stay rooted in nonviolence and peaceful resistance. It is going to take us all to make this a reality, even – or maybe especially – when it is hard. 

Thanks for all you do –