2021 Year in Review
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear Friends,
As our country still struggles to emerge from a global pandemic that has devastated many aspects of our life, 2021 has felt like a transition period - an in-between time needed to regroup and plan. This year has been a time of self-reflection for ATD Fourth World. Even though our long-term goals of building a fair society together with the people most impacted by the injustice of poverty remain unchanged, the ways to achieve them have been challenged.
To emerge from this pandemic, our primary compass is the aspirations of the people living in persistent poverty. Clearly, our reference should not be the way the world was functioning before the pandemic, with its social exclusion and systemic oppression. What people with a direct experience of poverty are calling for is to move forward together.
To move forward together means to bring what we do to the next level.
In New Mexico, we have understood that our presence and action are not only needed in places where the community gathers but also where family life happens. In rural areas, this is often several hours away from the nearest town. We have been experimenting with Story Garden on Wheels and will soon upscale the program when a customized van that was purchased, thanks to the generosity of many of you, will finally be available.
In New York, a business for recycling computers and other electronics is now being developed to create job opportunities for young adults while having a positive impact on the environment.
Other initiatives, many of which include training and advocacy and are led by people with a direct experience of poverty, are also growing and making meaningful impacts. To learn more check out our new website - atdfourthworld-usa.org!
To move forward together, we need to be innovative and bold in what we do, but also keep reflecting on who we are as an organization. Toward this, a working group on Racism and Poverty in the United States was started. It is creating a learning space that is strengthening our abilities to discuss and understand the complexities of the relationship between poverty and racism.
Deep down, we know that the richness of who we are and the effectiveness of what we do are because our community is more than the sum of each of us individually. We care and look out for one another and for those who are left aside in our society. This gives us confidence for the future. We can achieve our ideals because we stick together with those most impacted by the injustice of poverty at the center of everything we do.
The pandemic may have messed up the path, but we still have our compass. We will move forward in 2022 grateful that we are all together on this journey.
Thank you for being a part of this community.
Yours,
Guillaume Charvon
National Director
