Last month, when we shared The Denver Foundation’s new Strategic Framework, we entered a new chapter, one centered in our values and shaped by the promise of ongoing co-creation with our community. As we move more deeply into this new Framework, we’re operating from a place of action, fueled by optimism about the strong and equitable future we’re building with all of you.
And yet.
These feelings of forward momentum are dampened by tragic reminders of how much work is ahead of us all.
All of us at The Denver Foundation are deeply troubled by the rise in violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across the nation, which reached a senseless apex in Atlanta earlier this month. Too many people of AAPI descent feel unsafe. As a society, we have a long way to go before the deeply rooted institutional racism faced by AAPI people is understood and reckoned with. The Denver Foundation is committed to deep reflection about how this truth informs our ongoing journey towards racial equity.
Our neighbors in Boulder are facing grief and an ongoing feeling of vulnerability as well, following the shootings there last week. The scourge of gun violence in the United States is a constant drain on our collective psyche. It leaves us feeling powerless and resigned to things as they are. But as the last year has shown us, in difficult times, we can help one another and find solutions to even the most intractable challenges.
I encourage you to reflect on ways you can care for those harmed and hurting, whether among the AAPI communities, in Boulder, or anywhere healing is needed. In that spirit, we’ve compiled some resources and ideas for engagement and action around these tragic events. I welcome your thoughts on other ways the community, and The Denver Foundation, can let our friends and neighbors know we’re there for them.
Let’s think big and work together.