The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) is now open for applications!
We’re inviting up to 25 seventh and eighth graders from Danbury and Ridgefield to join a 9-month journey of leadership, community-building, and social action. The meetings and activities will take place weekly after school at The Meetinghouse, and we are currently exploring option for transportation for participants.
To learn more about YLI, visit meetinghouse.life/youth-at-the-meetinghouse or contact me at fanta@meetinghouse.life.
If you know a young person ready to grow their voice and vision, encourage them to apply by October 10: Apply here.
As we welcome this next cohort of youth leaders, we’re reminded of the Bell Hooks’ quote:
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
After a heavy couple of weeks, I recently took a dance class with a group of strangers. In the first half, we were taught choreography and encouraged to practice. Once we were warmed up and had shed some of our initial awkwardness (we were actually laughing!) the instructor posed us with a new challenge: work in teams to choreograph 16 more counts on our own, as a lead-in to what we had just learned.
The room fell silent. People looked stricken. Then, enthusiastically, the first suggestion was to “put the great dancers in front,” which seemed to make the assignment more difficult to execute: Who is a ‘great dancer?’ We eventually performed the Electric Slide (a fun line dance commonly done at weddings and other celebrations), which everyone felt like they could do, adding some fun elements that represented the personalities of various members of the group. I walked away from the experience most excited that not only had we met the challenge, but we had found a way to do it that made everyone feel capable and also be themselves. It’s funny how a line dance can bring people together and empower them at the same time.
This September, we’ve seen locally that communion takes many forms—whether gathering to support young leaders, conversations over coffee in The Market, sharing groceries with a neighbor, connecting with our energy in community during a yoga class or attending the Nancy Moore showing or an open mic to celebrate local artistry and reflection. These moments, both purposeful and ordinary, are the threads of community resilience. When we make time to be together—not just for causes we care about, but in the rhythms of daily life that we all have in common, like a cup of coffee or a swaying to a good tune —we create space for conversations that nourish us and help us see each other. It is in these spaces that we build trust, spark ideas, and strengthen the networks that help us raise children, navigate challenges, imagine and achieve new, amazing futures.
Let’s continue to show up for one another—in classrooms, in creative spaces, in line at the market. Resilience thrives there, too.
In Community With You,
