Why we must ACT in 2025
I opened the new year inviting you to join PoP Health at the intersection of hope and action to transform health in our communities.
Earlier this month, we dove into the idea of hope.
Today, we’re focused on ACTION.
Why we must HOPE in 2025
Regardless of where on the spectrum your year so far falls, I stand by what I shared last week: I believe wholeheartedly that it is at the intersection of hope and action that we can work together to transform health in our communities. So in this issue and the next, I’d like to break down each of those concepts.
Today, we’re focused on HOPE.
A New Year's wish + invitation
Thank you for being a part of our Community Threads family! Having this space to share with you all and reading your emails about what you’ve gleaned from these newsletters have meant the world to me this past year.
So as we close the chapter on 2024 and enter 2025, I wanted to share with you a new year’s wish + invitation:
The story matters more than the words
Howdy,
Did that "howdy" make you double take? Hi, hello, hey, yoo-hoo, yo, howdy - so many possible one-word greetings. Don't they each make you feel a little bit different?
I love words. As an avid reader, a writer, and just a human in this world, I love words.
Movements need weavers and warriors
What a week.
In the last issue of Community Threads, I spoke about how voting isn’t enough - that we need to organize movements. That remains true regardless of who wins an election or which political party is in power.
We need to come together - in a highly organized, long-term, consistent way - to make collective demands for concrete changes. We need movements.
And movements need both weavers and warriors.
Why voting isn’t enough
With election day fast approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about voting.
At an event I was at a few weeks ago, someone brought up the distinction between technocratic strategies and democratic strategies - that technocratic strategies focus on policy (which is necessary, but not sufficient, to transform health in our communities) while democratic strategies focus on politics (which is all about POWER).
We can’t transform health in our communities without democratic strategies that center power.
The difference between cynicism and skepticism
Are you a pessimist or an optimist?
I’m optimistic (almost to a fault, my husband would tell you).
But…I’m also pretty skeptical.
The most important question to ask yourself when action planning
🍁Happy Fall🍁
It’s the season of sweaters and apple picking and pumpkin spice.
And my personal favorite - the changing colors of the leaves. There is this incredible tree in our neighborhood, visible from our front door, that turns brilliant shades of yellow and orange and red over the course of the transition from summer to fall. The very top of the tree has just started to change color.
"The art of gathering" and the importance of grounding people in their purpose
Have you facilitated a meeting before? Or hosted a party?
What runs through your mind when you’re planning a gathering?
HOW to tell a powerful story + tips to transport and activate your audience
I’ve been leaning on beach reads this summer (to be honest, I lean on them year-round) and have always loved being transported to new places through stories.
But let’s be real, it’s easy to transport a reader to a beautiful beach on vacation. It’s a lot harder to transport them into, say, the lives of families in rural America.