A Tour of WIN week

"...a concern for de-fragmentation and cross-group coalition building may

force advocates to consider how their approaches may inadvertently be

contributing to exclusion, identity-based breaking, and democratic

degradation."

- Countering Authoritarianism

By John A. Powel & Sara Grosssman

Buzz to blues

By Marion O. & Moyin A. , WE In the World

Did you miss WIN week? This digest issue is specifically designed to let you in. We capture not just moments but whole experiences and bring them back in a way worth reliving.  WIN Week 2023 was co-hosted by WE in the World/WIN Network, Wellville, and Communities RISE Together.

Over 77 people spoke at and 323 people attended WIN Week 2023!  Are there people you’re dying to check in with? Slides and recordings you want to find?  You can find it all on the WIN Week Post-Event page.

“The sessions were participatory, inspiring, challenging, thought-provoking, and uplifting. As people networked and eased into the mood, we wished for yet another week in Spartanburg! The storytelling was topnotch, and our virtual spaces were equally as warm and alive with ideas and experiences as was the mood in C.C Woodson. WIN week ended in style, almost as though it was just taking off. We're still a tiny bit jealous of in-person attendees who got to take a tour around three neighborhoods of Spartanburg. Thank heavens for the virtual slots that bridged distances for some of us who could not make it in person.”

 -WIN Week participant

“The word I took from this WIN Week? Build. Building together. Building from the lessons of the past. Building for the future.”

-Moyin Amoo, WIN Week participant

Ms. Pontheola Abernathy of the Clevedale Historic Inn and Gardens shared her story of how she had overcome discrimination in the real estate sector to reclaim and renew the last 4 acres of a former slave plantation to renew it into a place of well-being where everyone could feel like they belonged.

RISE Communities began their week in the beautiful gardens of the Clevedale Inn marking the beginning of WIN Week 2023.  This reunion was a time to reflect and share stories about how communities had kept their neighbors safe through the pandemic, the challenges and lessons learned.  People gathered around storyboards and exchanged the “how.”  

Communities played a scavenger hunt BINGO game organized by Elizabeth Romero and Kelley Gray about how different communities had solved thorny challenges. Hilda Ortiz and Sarai Arpero of Latino Health Access and Somava Saha of WE in the World through a powerful analogy about why we need to go upstream and introduction of the Pathways to Population Health Equity framework, described why it was essential that we shift from response to address the underlying community conditions and root causes to address the underlying causes of health inequities.  

“We need to make a choice to be better ancestors, for the future.”  Somava Saha, WE in the World

Tuesday, April 25th  Reclaiming the Past to Chart a Path to the Future

Communities gathered Tuesday morning at the CC Woodson Community Center in a session hosted by Wellville and the town of Spartanburg.  After a powerful start with poetry, a panel including current and former mayors and community activists talked about  the history of Spartanburg and the story of its journey to reconciliation with how racism shows up in past and present systems. They described the Apology Resolution and how they are continuing to work–and struggle–as they translate the apology to policy and systems change.

After a community to community exchange including building a chain of links, a powerful panel including the Chief Innovation Officer of Washington State Lindsay Morgan Tracy and two Steering Committee members with lived experience Jennifer Bereskin and Shereese Rhodes shared how they had reclaimed their history to chart a path to eliminating poverty in Washington State. They described why the leadership of those with lived experience was essential to this process and how they had created a policy that built inclusion, pay and exemption from having this pay count against receiving core benefits.

Tuesday afternoon included workshops and community to community exchanges on Creating Belonging and Racial Justice, the Meaning Making Machine and Addressing Vital Community Conditions and Root Causes of Health Inequities followed by powerful visits to three neighborhoods of Spartanburg led by community residents who shared the stories of the places and how our history had created the conditions for poor health and life and what they were doing to repair that.  As Jennifer Bereskin noted: “Poverty is not a choice.  Policies are systemic.  When we build them, we need to be thinking about the seven generations that come after us” 

Wednesday, April 26th Leaning into the Opportunities of Today to Chart a Path to the Future

After a powerful land blessing led by Dr. Ruby Gibson, we held our first multisolver world cafe! Here, we were trying to creatively think of strategies that could move more than one vital condition at the same time!   Communities shared their ideas and voted on what would most move areas like digital equity, climate equity and structural racism in public health and health care.

Voting results of top 3 Multisolver Strategies: Structural Racism in Health

Wednesday afternoon, some communities visited another Spartanburg neighborhood while others engaged in a series of workshop tracks to build our collective capacity to change the system together in four tracks:

• Communication and Narrative Change
• Data for Power
• Moving the Money
• Shifting Policy

A few quotes shared during these sessions:

“Don’t victimize your community to get a few clicks.”  Father Jose Rodriguez

“Trust was catalytic.” Abeni Bloodworth

Thursday April 27th   Changing the System Together

Building a Grassroots to Grasstops Movement to Change the System

The plenary session on building a grassroots to grasstops movement to change the system brought together voices ranging from grassroots community organizers to philanthropy to federal leaders.  Community was at the heart of the conversation, and the recognition that “breaking barriers and navigating oppressed spaces means listening more and doing it better”. 

Changing a system of inequity requires much more than just good intention, it requires teamwork and community–and we all hold a piece of the puzzle. As Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair, National Endowment for the Arts stated, “I know we’ve been so proud and happy to be able to be part of this process and begin to help people understand the role of the arts in wellness and resilience, in equity and well-being.”  Rear Admiral Paul Reed, MD, Rear Admiral described how 45 federal agencies are coming together to advance equity in the vital conditions through Equitable Long-Term Recovery and Resilience.  

Abeni Bloodworth of chromatic.black, community activist Shu Ling Zhao, investor Esther Dyson, Kara Big Crow of Freedom Lodge, and Malikah Berry Rogers of the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium, reflected on the courage and commitment that was required to change the system in the face of erasure of story, active shooter threats and active opposition. As Anne Ekedahl summarized,  “A grassroots to grasstops movement is a bridge–it means authenticity, respect, compassion, and listening.”

Communities then prepared for the journey home by reflecting on how they would share what they had learned and be in action together.

“WIN Week was an enlightening gathering where I learned that community is an important piece in the work that we do to advance equity and wellbeing. My limited participation as a virtual participant further whets my appetite to attend the next WIN Week in person.” 

-Moyin Amoo

“I learned that as navigators in the social space, we need to embrace participative democracy, while also recognizing that communities organize in slightly different ways across different spaces. One word? Intentionality. Intentionality about rewarding the bravery of those who risk trouble for coming forth and speaking up! Intentionality about inviting others into spaces.” - Marion Olang

If you'd like to learn more about WIN Week, the speakers and attendees, visit here. 

Join the conversation

Articles for reflection

Poem for Inspiration

COMMUNITY 

Somewhere, there are people 

to whom we can speak with passion 

without having the words catch in our throats. 

Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, 

eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate 

 with us 

whenever we come into our own power. 

Community means strength that joins us our strength 

to do the work that needs to be done. 

Arms to hold us when we falter. 

A circle of healing. A circle of friends. 

Someplace where 

we can be free.

Poem by Starhawk

Resources for Equity

Healthy People 2030 : Mental Health and Mental Disorders



About half of all people in the United States will be diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime. Healthy People 2030 focuses on the prevention, screening, assessment, and treatment of mental disorders and behavioral conditions. The Mental Health and Mental Disorders objectives also aim to improve health and quality of life for people affected by these conditions.

Mental disorders affect people of all age and racial/ethnic groups, but some populations are disproportionately affected. And estimates suggest that only half of all people with mental disorders get the treatment they need. 



Upcoming events

Funding Opportunity

Clif Bar Family Foundation: Operational Support

Type: Foundation

Due Date: June 1, 2023

Match Required: No Cost Share

Overview: To protect the places in which people play through stewardship of the environment and natural resources.

Applicant organizations must address at least one of the following priority areas:

• Strengthen food systems
• Enhance equitable community health outcomes
• Safeguard the environment and natural resources

Priority will be given to applicants that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Address two or more priority areas at the same time
• Demonstrate strong community ties
• Operate within viable and clearly defined plans for positive change

Leonard-Litz LGBTQ Foundation: LGBTQ+ Community Grants (New Hampshire)

Type: Foundation

Due Date: Rolling

Match Required: No Cost Share

Overview: The purpose of this program is to help LGBTQ+ people fulfill their potential by funding nonprofit organizations that advance the interests and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community through advocacy and with programs and services that meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people. Funding will be provided for life-affirming services that address one or more of the following focus areas:

• Health and wellness
• Crisis intervention
• Racial justice
• Advocacy and community engagement
• Social assistance and programming

Huntington National Bank: Charitable Grant Program (Wisconsin)

Type: Foundation

Due Date: Rolling

Match Required: No Cost Share

Overview: The purpose of this program is to contribute to the development of healthy, vibrant communities. Funding will support projects that improve self-sufficiency and quality of life, as well as advance social and economic equality, in communities served by the funding agency.

Support will be provided for projects in the following focus areas:

• Community revitalization and stabilization 
• Community services 
• Affordable housing 
• Economic and community development 
• Racial/social equity