I believe it is an accurate statement that most of our organizations have some component of safety as a core function. These functions include safety ambassadors, private security contracts, outreach social service workers, and a fully functioning police department. Regardless of your organization’s level of safety, I also would venture to guess that those functions are perceived differently by different audiences. What one population views as a safety enhancement might equal anxiety for another group of individuals.
I believe it is an accurate statement that most of our organizations have some component of safety as a core function. These functions include safety ambassadors, private security contracts, outreach social service workers, and a fully functioning police department. Regardless of your organization’s level of safety, I also would venture to guess that those functions are perceived differently by different audiences. What one population views as a safety enhancement might equal anxiety for another group of individuals.
With each conversation that I have had in our community, safety is raised as a critical element to success. However, the lens of the people sharing their stories are not the same. It’s as if safety is the goal, or more the feeling of safety is the goal, or rather the feeling of being able to relax and enjoy a place is the goal, but in actuality the feeling of belonging is the goal. But make no mistake, the paths leading to belonging are painted and designed differently, have a variety of obstacles, and the distances are not the same for all who approach. The very sentence, “I want to feel safe when I come here” means something vastly different depending upon the speaker, but each individual deserves that outcome.
Standing at a neighborhood concert on a beautiful summer evening, glass of wine in hand, hundreds of people in lawn chairs enjoying the band and dozens of kids throwing balls and chasing each other outside the congregation of parents, when my new friend standing with me says, “you know these kids’ grandparents probably told them to never come here because they wouldn’t be safe.” The word rings in my ear and competes with the laughter, joy and squeals of the play. This moment on the heals of every conversation I have recently had around that word.
Enter Gracie. There is no single answer for how we arrive at this goal from all of our various starting points. We have all heard the adage, death by 1000 cuts, which somewhat explains how we got here. So I believe the antidote is some version of the flip side, thriving through 1000 warm interactions. Our police department recently swore in it’s first community policing K9. Her mission is nothing more than hugs and kisses. She isn’t trained to sniff out drugs or bombs or to attack. She’s literally trained to love. Last week, as neighborhood schools opened for the school year, Gracie was there with her uniformed handler, welcoming kids back to another year. This four-month-old golden lab is adored, and by extension, her handler is appreciated.
This is by no means a singular solution, but rather it is one healing moment that creates connection. 999 to go! It is imperative that we continue to work toward safe places for our communities, but we must do that by approaching from our neighbors’ starting point to see more clearly what they need to arrive safely.