There’s Always Hope
I’ve been thinking about the incredible highs and devastating lows of our work here at Lutheran Settlement House. This work can be tough. I’m not writing to bum you out (stick with me, I promise this gets more hopeful!), but every day, we see people caught in the housing crisis, and struggling in the economic crisis, and aging comes with so many challenges, and sometimes people don’t even know where their next meal is coming from, and sometimes they don’t even know if they’ll be safe at home.
Some days I just want to sit under a cozy blanket, eat chocolate, and listen to sad music. Some days I feel so angry. Some days I lose faith in other people. Some days I lose faith in myself.
But that’s not all the days, or even most of the days. That’s not today.
Today, I’m thinking about how Lutheran Settlement House has been here for over 122 years, and we are not going anywhere. We’ve been able to stick around year after year because we don’t let ourselves get lost in the pits of despair. I mean, we work with people in all of these difficult situations, with these seemingly intractable social problems, but ask around and the defining spirit of LSH is joy. What? How?
I’m guessing it comes back to our values—Community, Compassion, Change. I love being part of a place where we define ourselves by all the people we welcome, not who we exclude. And I love that we welcome people exactly as they are. Angry? Scared? Lonely? Hurt? Our whole purpose, our whole reason for being here, is to try to understand each individual and tenaciously believe in them.
And then there’s change. You want to know the kind of change that blows me away? It’s the change that people create for themselves, against all kinds of barriers, and in the face of so much injustice. On those really hard days, those days where I want to cry or scream or just go numb, it’s the hands of all these people that lift me up, all these people who every single day are demanding something better, something beautiful, for themselves, for their families, for their neighbors.
So yes, there are hard days. And there are joyful days. But there’s always hope. If this resonates with you, please know I’m inviting you. However you can be present, and however we can be present with you. However you can help, and however we can help you. We welcome you and we need you and we’re grateful for you.
In solidarity,
David Chiles
This story is part of Every Day at Lutheran Settlement House, a new series featuring stories from our Executive Director.
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