Dear Friends,
Sr. Maria stands at my office desk and points, suddenly, past my shoulder to the open window behind me. I turn to see two young deer peering in at us—less than a foot away from the screen, their dark eyes wide, ears tilting.
A few minutes later, Warren Cooper, Campaign Coordinator of “Take 5: Stop the Violence Campaign” and a talented jazz musician, folds his tall self onto the uncomfortable wooden chairs in the office of Cranaleith’s Program Director, Margie Winters. Together, we plan a concert for peace and light and healing from grief–a Peace Rally scheduled at Cranaleith on December 21. In describing his ministry of sacred jazz, Warren mourns how the whole city, the nation, is in a moment of “separation energy.”
Later in the week, I am alone in the lobby of the District Attorney’s Office in Philly. I can’t see the receptionist past the square pole blocking my view. Will he be able to see me? Will he remember I am here, waiting where he told me to? The DA’s press event for the selected non-profits who focus on healing the trauma of youth’s exposure to violence is scheduled for 10 am. I am an hour early. I keep checking my phone. Deidre, the Executive Director of our partner organization, WE/ Women Empowered, texts me. She is on the way. She asks what exit she should take out of Suburban Station. She’ll meet me there, she texts. Soon. Just a few more minutes. I am relieved when Taj Murdock, CEO of Men of Courage steps into the room. We talk about his non-profit and how it brings together young men for mentorship, opportunity, and inspiration. I lean forward in my chair as I look at the pictures he shows of his center’s historic house. Roz Pichardo, the Founder of Operation Save Our City, sits in the chair to my right. A National Narcan trainer and a Stop the Bleed instructor, she describes the lethal mix of drugs that we aren’t stopping, aren’t seeing, aren’t paying enough attention to. In total, 31 small non-profits receive grants from the DAO’s Forfeiture Fund, Cranaleith included. Larry Krasner answers the reporters’ questions in English, then switches to Spanish. I am seated to one side of the podium, but I am anxious because Deidre is lost in the crowd. I gather so many business cards, my hands can’t hold them all.
I have been reading the United Nations’ “Partnership Accelerator 2030 Agenda” which makes the argument that partnerships can lead to deep, transformational change. A “partnering culture” the UN report notes, includes “a humility over what can be achieved alone, … a willingness to reach out to work with others to achieve goals…[and] a commitment to enter into partnerships on the basis of equity, transparency and mutual benefit” (p. 67). I copy the agenda, send it to everyone I know.
The first line of Cranaleith’s mission statement describes how we offer “a contemplative space for all those seeking wholeness and transformation for themselves and society.” By “wholeness” don’t we mean we are connected to one another, to the divine, as part of our efforts to become complete, to stand “unbroken?” By “transformation” don’t we mean that we believe that the inner work of individuals and groups can lead to systemic change in the outer world—a change begun in the spirit of the Divine? In connection with one another?
“Shh,” Sr. Maria says in hushed tones. “Look at the deer! Isn’t it amazing that they are right there next to us?” “Yes,” I whisper, “it is.”
In Peace and Mercy,
Dawn L. Hayward
Executive Director