Mission Statement: The Mission of the BeLonging Space is to Co-Create, Cultivate, Hold, & Sustain Safe Spaces of Connection, BeLonging, & Healing [with Individuals, Neighborhoods, Communities, Groups, Organizations, Communities of Faith, and Virtual Communities] throughout the Eugene-Springfield Metro Area.
Our purpose is to cultivate relationships, networks, and space for the mutual flourishing of our neighbors through intentional listening, hospitality, resourcing, education, and community-centered programming. We know that societal liberation and social transformation is contingent upon all of us working together to build a more beloved community. Murri artist and activist Lilla Watson once said, “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
But what does this look like in practice? Whereas traditional community development models work via a top down approach, we strive to work via a lateral approach by forming relationships with the people who know a particular situation best– namely the people with lived experience– because we know that relational engagement is sustainable engagement. When we engage an historically underserved/resilient community, We strive to listen and learn from our most marginalized neighbors about the challenges that they have identified, the needs that the community has, and how they want to collaborate and receive help in addressing their challenges and needs. Simultaneously, we are cultivating relationships with organizations, faith communities, and individuals that have resources and volunteer time to contribute– then we try to match them. Whenever possible, we look for opportunities to bridge the gap between “givers” and “receivers” by holding space for volunteering, learning, and collaboration– but in the best of circumstances, it happens on its own. For example, last year when delivering supplies for the Indigenous Santa event, it was mentioned that a kitchen item still needed to be purchased for the Rainbow Santa event. The director immediately volunteered to loan that item from their equipment.Our liberation is bound up in one another, and is usually closer than we imagine.
Poverty and inequality typically impact the most vulnerable members of any given community– which usually means that the youngest members of a community experience the most aggression and are left without the most resources. Local districts are reporting astonishing increases in racially-motivated bullying; while local queer led organizations are reporting significant increases in aggression towards 2SLGBTQIA+ children, youth, and young adults. Due to the nature of the intersections of our work, we frequently find ourselves working with resilient community leaders and organizations that are aware of and committed to ending violence, adequately resourcing children and families in a way that honors their dignity, and interrupting cycles that cause harm to children, youth, and young adults.
This can look like collaborating on holiday events that amplify representation and center Black, Indigenous, and 2SLGBTQIA+ families. This summer, it looked like collaborating with local community educators to put together workshops and de-escalation training for members of faith and other communities on how to show up with and advocate for queer youth. Sometimes this looks like collecting gift cards for Indigenous families, or collaborating with a local charter school and community volunteers to grow a community garden to help alleviate food insecurity in Springfield. Sometimes this work looks like supporting children’s literacy programs in a low-income neighborhood.
Sometimes we engage in the longer work of learning where BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth are experiencing violence (and how faith and community groups can partner and collaborate to interrupt it in a trauma-informed, conscientious way). In some ways, this type of work comes with higher stakes. Meeting basic needs is essential; and collaborating on celebratory projects involves an elevated level of trust; but, entering into someone’s pain requires gentleness, compassion, and humility. This is why we believe that community based education is so critical to building a sustainable and responsive neighboring network.
We are constantly learning where there are local resourcing gaps and trying to make connections with the folks that have resources to share. Because we know that we can’t do it all– but we can do a lot more together– a significant part of what we do is cultivating community connection through mutual service, learning, invitation, and opportunity. The Eugene-metro area has over 2,000 nonprofit organizations– our goal is to get as many of us working together for the good of our community and the flourishing of its most vulnerable members as we can.