I can hardly believe it’s been a year since last Fall. So much has happened in our world, in our communities. This time last year we were six months into the pandemic, accepting that we might still have a long road ahead before getting back to “normal.” At the same time, many organizations, including our own, were searching for answers on how we sustain our work and continue to show up for the people we serve when everyone around us is facing hardship. How do we host a fundraiser that previously centered around people coming together to “Take Steps in Their Shoes,” and bear witness to the stories of survival that we work to support?
This is how our first “Steps for Social Change” was born. We recognized that we are not separate from the people we serve and that our whole community was in desperate need of a concentrated commitment to self-care. We talked about the connection between our physical wellness and our emotional perseverance and realized that we wanted to hear about how everyone was going to take care of themselves to make sure they could keep showing up for others as well. We wanted to remind people that commitments to self aren’t selfish. In fact, these commitments are the only way we can truly continue to show up for each other, even in the most challenging times. We wanted to inspire each other, learn from each person’s unique self-care routines and come together in safe ways during a time when congregating was not an option.
For me, getting outdoors and staying active truly helped me to endure the hardships that we faced through the early months of the pandemic and by Fall of last year, I felt energized to keep up the habit that had been sustaining me. My partner, our dog, Lyle, and I committed to miles; we set a goal for ourselves to walk, run or hike a collective 250 miles last October and we succeeded! On the very last day of October we logged the final 5 miles we needed to hit our goal, and we raised $1,945 for Steps in the process! That commitment we made to ourselves last Fall helped us survive the long, cold, socially distanced winter by bringing us together as a family. It reminded us that there are always ways to show up for our communities and still take care of ourselves and each other.
This year, we welcomed our first child into the world. This has meant a huge shift in our commitments and re-learning how to create balance with this beautiful new human at the center of it all. This year, committing to our physical wellness will likely look like a focus on rest, nourishment, and hydration instead of pushing ourselves to our physical limits. And that’s okay!
What the past year has taught me is that we have to be adaptable. We have to move through it all with grace for ourselves and for each other. Sometimes self-care looks like climbing a mountain or running a marathon, other times it looks like taking a bath, eating some vegetables, or getting 8 hours of sleep. Sometimes we feel like we can do anything, and other times we feel like we need to do nothing. The best way we can support each other is by asking people what they need and encouraging them to take time and space for those needs. The best way we can take care of ourselves is by paying attention to what we need and attending to it.
Steps for Social Change is about all of that and more. It’s about checking in with yourself. What do you need? How are you feeling? What’s missing for your physical wellness and how can you make space for it? It’s about checking in with each other. Being a cheerleader for your friends, family, and neighbors - to make sure they have what they need to keep going. It’s about vulnerability and accountability. Sharing with each other so we can lift one another up and push each other to meet our goals.
And it’s about survivors. It’s about how we all survive. And for Steps, it’s about how we care for survivors, how we recognize the impact that violence has on people’s lives, and how we speak out against it. We know that people who have endured abuse and who are living in or working to heal from trauma can lose sight of themselves and their self-worth. We also know that these same people are amongst the strongest people we’ve ever known. Our work at Steps is all about supporting survivors to build their best lives, free from violence. Large-scale social change comes from small steps towards something different.
So this year, join us again virtually to take steps for social change.
Register to help us raise the funds we need to continue the work we do to make changes in the lives of survivors and our community. Set a goal - big or small - for your own self-care and physical wellness. Share your goals with your people and ask for their support. Create an opportunity for your community to show up for you and for survivors simultaneously. Help everyone see the connection between caring for ourselves and caring for each other.
Yours in community care,
Nicole Kubon
Executive Director
