Change requires action by all of us

June 4, 2020

We are experiencing anxiety, frustration, heartbreak – raw emotions that we are all grappling with. People across our communities are living on the very edge, feeling a new fragility in ways we may not have expected. With racism, community health, isolation and financial strain in the forefront of our minds, our emotions feel heightened. Sadly, none of these issues are new to us. If we believe they are, we need to acknowledge the blind spots in ourselves and in many corners of our communities.  

The feeling of helplessness for so many can be overwhelming. We know we can do better, and we must do better.  As community leaders, as friends and neighbors, but more importantly as fellow human beings who need to fight for each other. The isolation we have all recently experienced underscores just how important the human connection is. To love and embrace one another. To celebrate the beauty and diversity of our human spirit which makes our communities so vibrant. 

Our problems will not be solved by any singular effort. But each of us has the capacity to take one step. Make one call. Commit the extra time. Change requires us all to do better job of listening, seeking to understand and building genuine lasting relationships. Trust is not built at the height of any crisis. It is built and sustained through consistent work in the days, months, and years ahead. It comes when no one is watching. 

Marcus Walton, President and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, recently wrote a compelling piece titled Hope is Not a Strategy for Change, which articulated how hope itself has never been a proven strategy for change any more than outrage has prevented future atrocities. 

For the past 28 years, your Community Foundation has been and remains committed to the hard work of affecting change across our community.  We need to continue to listen with even greater purpose and understand the needs of others thoroughly while holding ourselves accountable for real change.  Together, we can and must be the change needed.

Dennis Buehler
President / CEO
Greater Green Bay Community Foundation