It’s hard to believe two years have passed since I joined the PCA America team, and I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly reflect on the pair of exceptional years we’ve just experienced—and endured—together.
In addition to a global health pandemic that forced us to isolate from—and, in too many instances, prematurely say goodbye to—family, friends, and colleagues, we experienced another pandemic of overt structural racism and resultant social unrest and demands for change. Under this pall of anxiety and uncertainty, we struggled to maintain our own equilibrium, piecing together child and elder care, healthcare, remote learning, finances, and makeshift workspaces and schedules, among countless other ad hoc arrangements. We sought solace in what personal connectedness we could muster from Zoom meetings, virtual happy hours, and other digitally facilitated visits and social engagements. And we worked feverishly under these difficult circumstances to continue to serve the children and families whose needs didn’t relent and often intensified.
But for all the challenges and deficiencies these years doled out, we persevered. We sought—and found—the silver linings, the half-full glasses, and new ways to turn lemons into lemonade. In ways that may have not been possible otherwise, we were able to articulate the urgency of our mission and the unambiguous need to create the contexts and conditions required to ensure that children and families thrive. Masks and physical distancing became powerful analogs to help people understand what a public health approach to preventing child abuse and neglect looks like. We found novel ways to sustain, and even extend, meaningful relationships with parents and caregivers. And, above all, we maintained, projected, and instilled hope and resilience.
For this, I am eternally indebted to all of you. When my own reserves of patience, compassion, and grace were running low, I inevitably found not one, but numerous examples of those traits on full display within our community, helping to restore my sense of calm and composure. The change-making power of partnerships, among our valued state chapters, HFA affiliates, community and family voices, and cohort of mission-aligned collaborators, have been successful in assuring we get to the root causes and solutions of childhood adversity.
I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming national conference where we’ll reunite, reengage, commiserate, laugh, and ultimately celebrate the ways we’ve been transformed, emerging stronger, savvier, and more energized to continue the important work that unites us every day.
Together, we can prevent child abuse, America…because childhood lasts a lifetime.