eNews

April 2025

THE PREPARATION WILL HOLD

I had the joy of connecting with colleagues earlier this month at ABFE's Annual Harambee Conference in Atlanta, GA.


Harambee is the largest gathering of Black professionals in organized philanthropy. The term "Harambee" signifies unity and community empowerment. This event gives us the chance to gather as Black philanthropic leaders, organizers, and advocates for impactful discussion and action.


I was invited to provide remarks during the closing plenary, and below, I am sharing with you my calls to action for not a single one of us, but for all of us.

There’s a special spark in your spirit when you live at the nexus of philanthropic futurism and prophetic imagination. I was seeking direction from the Holy Spirit prior to the election results to ground me for what was to come. And I share with you now what I heard with my spiritual ear: “The preparation will hold.” 


This let me know that we would be in the righteous fight for our lives as the called-out ones in our generation—but the ancestral preparation will hold. It means that what has been prepared will be sufficient and endure until the time it is called upon, and that all the effort (the blood, sweat, tears, and the rest) will not be wasted. 


And like a good strategist, we begin with the end in mind. The end is that we win when these conditions are met.


Solidarity demands reckoning and reconciliation before strategy. 

Before we can unite and move forward together, we must reckon with the harm we’ve caused within our own circles among our own people.


Build endowments that free us to lead. 

It’s time to emancipate our leaders who carry the torch for change—leaders who know how to leverage their vision, power, influence, purpose, creativity, and prophetic imagination without restraint when they are no longer tethered to fundraising and downright begging for what should be well-resourced in perpetuity.


Prepare the people for freedom. It’s a condition for our victory. 

We are on the verge of something profound and revolutionary in our lifetime. We have a duty to prepare ourselves and our people to hope and fight for possibility and promise. We must recognize and celebrate glimmers of the future in the now. And reparations sure sound like preparation to me.  


Discern times and seasons. 

Time is moving both fast and slow. Pacing is required for this race. Be meaningful, methodical, intentional, and do root-system, not leaf-level planning. 


Become equipped to be a Mental Health First Aid practitioner. 

Thoughts and prayers as sentiments are not sufficient for the weight of spiritual, mental, and emotional distress. Mental Health First Aid is CPR for emotional wellbeing. We are on the front lines of response and must prepare ourselves to help ourselves and our people endure hardness.


Love is the Lasso - consider love as the foundation of our strategy. 

The antidote for hate is love. LOVE is strategy. All things rooted in love attract bounty and overflow. There is no checkmate for love. Love is unbeatable. Love makes the unwinnable winnable. 


Love is the motivation that will create the conditions for the preparation to hold us up and together. Love breaks the strong delusions and the spell that has been cast over our nation and almost 50% of its people. Love is the unconditional condition of our sustained and durable democracy. 

Think intergenerationally and globally. 

Young ones, middle-aged, and elders have to come together. The traditional non-profit sector model is on hospice and is a system of entrapment and unhealthy co-dependence. Let’s revolutionize our continuum of care, community-created services, and civic infrastructure. Over-reliance on the US and Western model, dependence on the soft money of philanthropy, and decaying institutional infrastructure not by nor built for us calls for us to do what we always do, create something powerfully new and worthy of our people.


Think long game.

If you’re still thinking in three to five year spurts, you’re part of the problem. Pilots and partnerships take seven years to even generate meaning. Anything less than 10 years is churn not collaboration. At Deaconess Foundation we are planning and working for the next seven generations.


Have a written purpose statement and live by it 

Articulate and ground yourself in your vision of liberation, justice, and freedom. You will be rendered ineffective in a fight for what you cannot see and don’t believe. Walking around like a question mark instead of your birthright of being an exclamation point. Write the vision and make it plain and watch freedom move from possible, to probable, to inevitable. 


Leave behind a Marauder’s Map 

A Marauder’s Map is a Harry Potter magical document that reveals hidden passages and shows how people move secretly, but only if you have the password. Let’s leave behind that map for the next generation of freedom fighters to decipher and add to their war chest. We have to think now about how we pass the baton to the next generation.

The preparation will hold. But only when we decide to rally and create the conditions for it to turn the tide in our favor. The secret to our success is to boldly sit at the confluence of where the will of the Spirit and the Will of the People meet.   


Deaconess Foundation and our community partners give me the safe places and brave spaces to live in my exclamation point manifestation of who I am called to be.


I invite you to do the same.  


In service to the will of the Spirit and the mission,

Bethany Johnson-Javois

President & CEO


“Our ultimate issue is not to be more moral than white folks, but becoming more free than we have ever been, free to engage our fullest powers in the transformative tasks that await us at the wall.” - Vincent Harding 

FROM THE FOUNDATION

The request for proposals for the second cycle of our Seeding the Future Grants opens on Monday, May 5. These grants are general operating funds awarded for one year to organizations with proposals that align with Deaconess’ intended impact. Learn more about this funding opportunity here.

CHALLENGING HEADWINDS: RESOURCES

We are continuing to use our newsletter as a space to share resources, insights, and materials designed to support us all in navigating the current state of affairs in the country.


As the current administration continues to attack Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and threaten the funding of nonprofits advancing equity both internally and externally, we are highlighting resources that provide guidance and insights for moving forward under these executive orders and policies. For up-to-date information on how executive orders are impacting nonprofits, visit the National Council of Nonprofits tracker here.


LAST CHANCE: FLORISSANT SETTLEMENT

If you were either jailed in Florissant or paid fines and fees to Florissant for minor traffic violations between October 31, 2011 and February 1, 2023 you may qualify to claim a portion of the settlement fund! The deadline to contact the administrator is May 1, 2025.


To contact the administrator:


Call Atticus Administration:

1-888-219-1511



Email: FlorissantClassAction@atticusadmin.com


Visit the website here.

IN THE NEWS: LEGISLATION TO WATCH

Missouri lawmakers are debating a tax cut that will mostly benefit the wealthiest in the state, while relying on an unrealistic estimate of what it will cost. The state’s Department of Revenue estimated the cost at $111 million per year. Carl Davis writes for the Missouri Independent that the cost would take an extra half-billion dollars out of the state budget, beyond what lawmakers have been told. Read his full piece here.

PARTNER OPPORTUNITIES & EVENTS

Upcoming Events

April 28: Hear Her Campaign: Train the Trainer Workshop (Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health)


April 29: Will of the People Power Hour Phone Bank (Missouri Jobs with Justice)


May 3: St. Louis Protect Workers’ Rights Rally (Missouri Workers Center)


May 9: Children's Mental Health Annual Celebration (Vision for Children at Risk)


May 9: MCLE Webinar: Building Business, Building Communities (Young Friends of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri)


May 14: SAGE Table: An Intergenerational LGBTQ+ Dinner + Conversation (PROMO Missouri)


May 17: Environmental Justice Day of Action - Community Clean Up (Metropolitan Congregations United)


May 17 - 18: Movement Builders Bootcamp (Missouri Workers Center)


May 21: Climate Action Lobby Day (United Congregations of Metro-East)

Power Exchange: Transforming the Future of the East St. Louis Area


Save the date for Saturday, June 7, 2025 at the JJK Center. Power Exchange is a day dedicated to equipping, amplifying, and mobilizing East St. Louis area residents who are ready to take charge of our community’s future. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about local issues and find their place in active change efforts happening in our neighborhoods. Sign up to be notified when registration opens here.

Resources & Opportunities

Schedule a free visit to the Center for Hearing and Speech’s clinic! 


Free Clinic Day will be held on May 31 from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Screenings will be provided by the Center’s licensed and friendly Doctors of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathologists. Results are available on-the-spot, with consultation for next steps, as needed.


Appointments are strongly encouraged as limited walk-ins can be accommodated. Register for Free Clinic Day here.

Volunteer at the 2025 Racial Equity Summit


Looking for a way to show up for your community this summer? The 2025 Racial Equity Summit is looking for volunteers on August 8-9! As a volunteer, food, drink, and parking will be complimentary for you. You will also receive a volunteer discount for $25 in-person registration to the Summit. Learn more and fill out the volunteer interest form here.

Applications are now open for WEPOWER Business Accelerators


WEPOWER is now accepting applications for their All Industry and Construction Small Business Accelerators, two 12-week programs designed to help entrepreneurs grow, access capital, and create living-wage jobs in St. Louis.


Whether you're running a construction company or building a business in another industry, this is your chance to get the tools, support, and momentum you need to scale with purpose. Entrepreneurs can learn more and apply here. Construction companies can learn more and apply here.

Now Hiring


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