en English
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanja Japanesept Portugueseru Russianes Spanish

North Sound ACH

North Sound Accountable Community of Health

liz note

Last Week of October

by Leave a Comment

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 –   

Fall 2025

by Leave a Comment

It could be a reflection of my long life, but time seems to be moving faster these days and this past month was no exception. We’ve held a multi-site Film Festival, attended many partner events and galas, welcomed new staff to bolster the Community Hub team, and more! 

Getting to hear you all describe your work is inspiring. One example – the Community Boating Center ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating their solar panel installation. It was a beautiful evening, and the message I carried for a long time: “It isn’t about boats; it’s about the people.” From adaptive equipment that helps wheelchair users get into the water to the first crew going out that was all folks who are blind, they also partner with Lummi and Nooksack Tribes, local schools, and organizations serving communities that don’t have easy access to the waterways that surround us – with an intentional focus on youth of color. It was a reminder of what community truly means. (Seeing a former North Sound ACH colleague, Rocio Castillo-Foell in her role at PSE leading efforts around community engagement was an added bonus!) 

Photos courtesy of Liz Baxter / North Sound ACH

Another memorable invitation came from Rosalinda Guillen to visit the women-owned, women-run co-op farm in Everson. Seeing the amazing operation, and hearing their dream to build a community center and a home for the live-in manager at the farm was incredible! The signage “Otro Mundo es Posible” (Another World Is Possible) – speaks to me in my heart.  

We also celebrated Children of the Setting Sun’s 10 year anniversary – another milestone as they plan and build their amazing cultural and community space in downtown Bellingham. Several of us got to do some painting of a mural in the alley. It is a special feeling to have your handprints on what is being built. 

And there is so much more that you all are doing!

The inaugural North Sound Voices Film Festival was also pretty amazing. We were way out over our skis as they say when we decided to give this a go 😊, but were fortunate to have a dedicated team and partners who helped shepherd the process. Seeing the final screenings, then getting to hang out with the filmmakers and artists who shared their stories was true building community and relationships. Those eight films may seem unique, telling stories of people of color, immigrants, farm owners and a black trans experience but they are intended to highlight that this is what our community looks like if we really look closely enough.

I was asked many times “what comes next?” and to be honest a lot of that depends on y’all. With a growing Network, we have at least 250 stories that could be lifted up. We cannot say we work on behalf of the community unless we can actually see everyone in the community. 

Photos courtesy of Liz Baxter / North Sound ACH

Lastly, one evening I had the joy of listening to live music. As the musicians (Itamar Erez and Hamin Honari) were returning from an intermission Hamin said “I hear and forget. I see and remember. I do and I understand.” In my humble opinion, live music touches our bodies in ways that recorded music is limited in doing. When the world feels chaotic around me, I need things and events that reach past my brain and communicate with my soul, my inner being. I hope you get those opportunities too. We are living through experiences that are actively trying to divide us, to make us stand to the left or to the right. Our team stands with you because we are aligned on values. Moving forward, we’ll need each other in ways we can only just imagine. Take advantage of every opportunity to turn toward each other.   

August Note from CEO

by Leave a Comment

I wish that you all could have joined us at Tulalip for the August Convening. I know that is a ‘big’ wish because of family and work priorities, but being in space with others committed to positive change across the region is nourishment for the soul. We are so grateful to those of you who were able to join, and we missed all of you who couldn’t be there (although we would need a room that holds 400 if you all showed up at the same time!). We still felt your presence and your impact.

As many of you shared last week, we are living in times of intense fear, stress, and shrinking resources. The more that fear surrounds us, the more humans want to separate and isolate – at a time when we need each other even more. The Convenings give us a chance to be with others who want to connect, collaborate, and bridge instead of breaking.

In addition to highlighting the work of some partners, we began discussions about a potential community ‘space.’ We’re very loosely referring to it as a community campus, but we still have a lot to explore before describing it in shorthand. Participants lifted up values and ideas that could guide a design process, including how this space could serve us collectively across the region and network – and there will be further opportunities for you to lean in and guide the process.  

Before he left, Darrell Hillaire (Children of the Setting Sun) said “this feels like movement building.” We were in a room where folks had divergent opinions and ideologies, yet showing how we are stronger together than we are apart. Thanks to Spring Cheng, we were able to not only move, but allow our emotions to burst forth with strength, not weakness. Our voices were shifting the energy in the room from helplessness to power.

I had a few takeaways – plus the dozens of ideas that y’all shared with me 😊 – and thought I would share a couple of them here:

  • Shout out to Faith Brown, with the Center for Independence, who challenged us to keep expanding our concepts of inclusion and accessibility. We were grateful, not only for the reminder, but the offer to help. That is what building a network can look like.
  • I got to share a table with a young staff person (Noah) from O.U.R. Journey. When we were doing the breakouts Noah shared ideas about how we can optimize outside space (space for picnics, basketball courts, gardens) that would draw young people, and suggest we have a garage that could be used for young people with car trouble to come and learn how to work on their own vehicles from others interested in teaching them.
  • Spending time with folks who were at their first convening, wondering what they had walked into, and talking with others who were at our very first convening back in 2018. Both perspectives brought insights about how we can offer space for partnership while the world around us continues to change. I will sometimes say to our team that the Network is not like a Costco membership. With every partner who joins the landscape changes. And it isn’t about us (the ACH) as much as it is about you, and what you all can do together that you cannot do alone.

We will be pulling together a planning group to continue the discussions about what a collective space could look like and encompass. For those of you in the room, Milenko asked participants in the room to think big. For those who weren’t able to join, we’ll be sending you some questions in the coming months so that you can add your thinking into the mix. More to come!

Thank you for all you do. Thank you for offering help to the community, to us and to each other. Thank you for showing up, even when there are dozens of other things demanding your time and attention – critical and important things. And in the face of adversity coming from so many directions, thank you for taking the time to turn to each other and remember that we are not alone on this journey.

Changing Seasons

by 1 Comment

First off, what a wonderful way to start November (Native American Heritage Month) after being in space with Children of the Setting Sun Productions at the launch of the Setting Sun Institute and the inaugural celebration of Netse Mot: One People Gathering in October. I hope you will check out their website, watch the videos that reside there, and keep them in your bookmarked list of places to visit again and again.  Their work will inspire you today and for generations to come.

After election day, a funny thing happened. I shared a poem from Venice Williams, director of Alice’s Garden Urban Farm in Milwaukee, ordained minister, and Cultural & Spiritual Midwife at CLARA Healing Institute and a few of you graciously responded as if I had written the poem, expressing appreciation for the power of her words in turbulent  times. So it seemed only fitting that this month I share one written actually by me, with prompts from Quaniqua Williams (her artist name is Khemistry).

Khemistry has been a poet/artist in residence with North Sound ACH for the past year; working with our team, partners, and community members to connect art with healing, resilience, and health. A few weeks ago, Khemistry led our team through a couple of exercises that included each of us writing a poem around the theme of “I am,” and then working in teams to make dreamcatchers. Expressing ourselves in ways that we don’t often get to touch – from our hearts – was pretty powerful. So here goes my poem:

I am a daughter
I wonder what my mother saw in my eyes
I hear her voice every day
I see her in my grandson
I want to carry her always
I am here.

I pretend I am not bothered
I feel the energy of others
I touch the air, the ground, the raindrops
I worry I am not enough
I cry when I am alone
I am alive.

I understand we need each other
I say what I mean
I dream of a ribbon connecting us all
I try to be honest with myself
I hope for a future that embraces us
I am part of creating that future.

As we head toward the winter solstice, a special time of year for this part of the planet, we turn from the shortest days of daylight and see the magic of the seasons change. Please join us in being the best stewards of this place that we call home. Hearing the wisdom of elders in my ear, we get to choose what type of ancestor we will be to future generations. Let’s hold onto that with our words and our actions as we end one year and move to another.

Wishing you all well –

Leading with Love 

by 1 Comment

I see this phrase a lot now, so maybe it is a new trend emerging. But trends pass, so I’m curious what will stay in the long term. 

I remember when Leading with Love was first discussed with the board in 2022, half expecting that they would say “oh, Liz, isn’t that nice.” Instead it led to one of the richest discussions that year, with board members diving deep to unpack what it meant to them and why it aligned with the culture of North Sound ACH and the work we do in the region. 

We have multiple frameworks that guide our approach. Separately each is critical, but when intertwined they are incredibly powerful – honoring tribal sovereignty, advancing equity, using targeted universalism, centering belonging, using the vital conditions for health and well-being, and leading with love. It is the last one – love – that is on my mind this month. 

Leading with love can sound soft or even passive – a ‘nice to have’ concept when you’re sitting singing songs around a campfire. But it takes commitment to embed and use love every day. Especially when things are hard, confusing, or we feel like we, or someone we care about, is under attack (whether real or perceived). Our innate human tendency is to defend, counter-attack, and to look to active allies for protection. 

Embedding the notion of ‘leading with love’ emerged from listening to a podcast featuring john powell about grief. What I took away was this: you cannot grieve without love and you cannot get to belonging without love. The next week, we had our first draft of five principles – compassion, care, community, courage, and curiosity. But we recognized that it would be easier to lead in this way when in a room of like-minded people who are enjoying each other’s company. We would be tested when things got difficult. That is when we know whether we took the principles seriously or not, and were willing to spend time on them when pushed. 

Love is intentional, a choice we make, and it takes just as much work to embed as any best practice or new tool. We can lead with suspicion, or fear, or anger, or our own past experiences. And we can choose to lead with love even when those other emotions or experiences want to crowd out love. That is the opportunity we have within our network and within our own relationships. How do I want others to act toward me if they hear a rumor, a story, someone’s challenging experience with me? 

My mom had a phrase that she used when we were growing up – ‘there but for the grace of God.’ She didn’t say it in a religious way, but in recognition that any one of us could be that person on the news, the person being arrested, the person who lost their apartment, was facing illness without insurance, etc. Coming from a very large family there was always something going on with someone. We didn’t distance ourselves from hard times, we circled around the person and made sure they did not feel isolated, but instead surrounded by love.

We have colleagues, partners in the Network, who we hear things about, and when we do we reach out to them hoping to hear from them firsthand what they are experiencing, and offer support where we can. I’m probably not surprising you, not all Network partners support the open nature of the Collaborative Action Network. People know things about organizations, practices and people in personal ways that our team may or may not. The door to the Network is broadly open, and we think that those who stay in the Network do so because of the opportunity to build relationships, meet new partners and collaborate on work. 

We ask everyone in the Network to commit to the same things. Their actions will show how they embrace and embed those commitments. But we get asked “how do you hold members of the network accountable?” The truth is that we don’t have accountability measures. The Network is an opportunity for transformative change. North Sound ACH helps facilitate those opportunities, but assessing and measuring partners in their commitments happens when an organization is selected by the Review Committee for capacity building dollars. Then we have a role in assessment, monitoring, and reporting. 

The past month has been challenging for many to watch polarization around a partner organization play out in the media. It has caused pain and heartache. And it has allowed staff and partners to step in and lead with love. Not judgment, but compassion. Not assumption, but curiosity. Not shunning, but care and community. And that takes courage when others expect you to do one thing only. 

The past 10 days have also been nourishing when it was most needed. Infusions of energy helped sustain the weary days. Some examples to share:

  • – Being present for the launch of the Setting Sun Institute was inspiring and generated so much hope, not only for the future, but for now. Young leaders stepping into leadership roles, guiding us to a future that they co-design was incredibly powerful to witness. (see their release down below!)
  • – Alongside was an event hosted by Children of the Setting Sun at the Paramount Theater in Seattle – Netse Mot: One People Gathering. All I could think was how I wanted more of this! If you were not able to attend, you can watch the recording here. 
  • – Our colleagues at Thriving Together North Central Washington held their first partner convening, and invited Cynthia Andrews and I to be on a panel to talk about the North Sound experience. Being in space as they launched their journey was so powerful and we learned a lot from them throughout the day. Having space that allows collaborative discussion is a courageous thing to do, and the richness of dialogue and desire to work together around the Vital Conditions was amazing to experience. 
  • – And lastly, last night Nanc and I went to see a performance of “Come from Away,” a musical retelling of what happened on 9/11 when 38 flights were directed to Gander Newfoundland, a community of about 9,000 people that welcomed 6,800 stranded passengers. Going back to the emotions of 9/11 was hard, but imagining what it would be like for my community to replicate what Gander accomplished – providing shelter, supplies, food, medications, health care needs, in multiple languages – while dealing with their own fears and biases during that traumatic week. I don’t know that I can imagine Bellingham doing that same thing, yet I can hope that we could. 

All told, I’m reminded that most of us can choose whether we lead with fear, suspicion, distrust, or we leave ourselves open to opportunities for connection, humanity, and profound relationships. I hope that we continue to choose the latter, but it requires trust in each other. That is where transformation can occur, and lead us to all communities thriving. The past week of connections came when I most needed them. (I’m sure there is a message from the universe in that somewhere.) I hope you get to be infused with connections like that as well. 

Thanks for being on this journey with us – 

Belonging, Civic Muscle, and Voting

by Leave a Comment

North Sound ACH has multiple frameworks that guide our work, and sometimes folks feel like they are separate and duplicative, but really they are intertwined. They are connected, build upon each other, and amplify what is possible. We are guided by:

  • Honoring tribal sovereignty, not only recognizing that we are all on Native Land, but also appreciation and gratitude for how tribes steward the land, air, water, wildlife because we are all connected in this ecosystem; 
  • Equity, with this description from PolicyLink as our starting point;
  • Targeted Universalism, because we are situated differently, in order for all community members to reach the same goal we need specific strategies to be available and used;
  • Belonging, an evolutionary next step from discussions of equity, leading us to imagine co-design, shared decision making, co-ownership of planning, implementation and results; and 
  • Vital Conditions for Well-being, (with belonging and civic muscle at its center) that moves from the standard definitions of ‘social determinants of health’ to what we are moving toward in key areas that cross clinical and community care and services.

This led our region to adopt principles around what we call ‘leading with love’ – seeing the humanity in each person and recognizing that they (we) all deserve to be loved as full human beings and have our needs met.
So, this is on my mind because of the current election season, and the work it takes to get eligible voters to turn out. For us, all of the above principles come into play. Voting is essential to belonging, and as communities we can either create barriers to voting, or we can enhance paths that encourage community members to vote. The choice is ours. Please, use whatever ability you have to encourage community members to vote, and point them to resources like IWillVote.org or Vote.gov. In Washington you can register to vote all the way through election day.

One shining example of enhancing paths to voting comes from partners in Skagit County. More than a year ago we were contacted by their County Auditor as they discussed offering election materials in English and Spanish for the 2024 election cycle. (FYI – There are federal laws that require election materials to be produced in languages other than English when certain conditions are met, and Skagit is not yet required to offer these materials in Spanish.) Skagit County was not required to do this, but still chose to do so, offering a brilliant model of how belonging and civic muscle can be operationalized in counties. Please check out the County’s  press release here.  We’re so proud to be a partner in their efforts and hope other counties follow their path.

No one sector or entity can do this alone. The Collaborative Action Network continues to grow (now more than 170 organizations!) and these frameworks ground us as we envision what we want to become as we move forward. 

None of us can achieve this alone, so thank you for joining us in this work!

Be well –