“Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the belief that if we work hard enough together, we can make things better!”
—Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Knowing the difference between optimism and hope is critical now, as we struggle to contain the surging pandemic and take down the racist systems our nation has built. The number of those infected and killed by COVID-19 continues to grow. The adverse economic impacts mount. All the while, the inequality and division in our nation – signs of what Frederick Douglass called “a virus that infects the soul” – must be challenged!
Optimism fades in the face of these challenges, but hope rises, lifted by faith in what we can do together. Sharing hope, along with building community and standing for justice, are central to ESTHER’s mission, and we depend on the support of members and friends to continue our work.
- We stand for justice by pointing out that the impact of COVID-19 falls most heavily on the marginalized and outcast, those living in the shadows – including incarcerated people, undocumented immigrants, those living day-to-day on an income that is inadequate and undependable, those without healthcare at a time when healthcare has become so obviously a human right. We are challenging the idea of a post-pandemic return to normal, because what we have gotten used to as “normal” is far too often less than what people need to thrive and flourish.
- We build community by continuing to nurture relationships and connect people so they can work together on issues that matter to them. Our six issue task forces provide focus for these efforts, and we’re experimenting with all-ESTHER online gatherings (such as our event on April 27, or our 17th Annual Celebration coming up on November 1). We’re doing it “virtually” now, widening the circle of people involved and issues addressed.
- And we share the hope that, working together, we can bring about a community founded in generosity and hospitality, where ethnic, cultural and personal differences are prized and honored, where each person’s intrinsic worth is affirmed and supported, where everyone has what is needed to flourish, where the freedom of each individual is held in creative tension with what is good for the wider community.
This work is more important now than ever, so we are asking for your financial support. We believe that over the past fifteen years we have shown what a staff of two or three, surrounded by a volunteer force of hundreds, can accomplish with a quite modest annual budget (especially when viewed in the light of our mission and goals). We invite you to think of yourself as a supporting partner of ESTHER – whether in the form of a single annual gift or as a monthly sustainer (form here). You can make an online contribution at https://esther-foxvalley.org/sharinghope, or send your gift to PO Box 784, Neenah, WI 54957.
Thank you!
Gary Crevier, ESTHER president
