End of year statement from our Executive Director, Jenny Jones

Beloved Community,

We have reached what is known as the end of a calendar year.  While some have given up on making resolutions in the new year, others double down on the practice as a matter of practicing discipline.  My own personal approach is to continue to take inventory of the year to spite the date on the calendar; it does not matter to me if I drift into the new year.  Reflecting on this year, I have to admit, it is clouded with grief, indecision, new challenges and opportunities, frustration, and determination. 

In April, I lost someone that I continue to miss with each passing day and month, and someone who spoke confidence into my movements and actions that I carry with me.  She did not always do things the way that one expects, and at times she had to cut a meeting short for the sake of commitments.  She was a mother, a water protector, a friend, a sister, a daughter, and an attorney…but Holly-ba was someone who only took on what she knew she had to be responsible for with her whole heart. She never stopped throwing her full self into love. 

There is no return to normalcy for anyone who loses a person that had an impact. There will be feelings of weariness, hopelessness, and a void that we may try to fill with many things.  There is also the struggle to think of what happens next.  This is the place where our community helps us to remember why we do what we do, and this is the place that when we feel like faltering, we lean into our creative practice.  What are some things that we do to soothe? To regulate? To heal?  Collective creativity, staying grounded in community, and staying vulnerable and open has been a balm for me.  Title Track has struggled in the way forward in the light of Holly’s passing, and yet, the work continues, and we have no choice but to move forward.  This does not mean that we move in an unhealthy and dishonorable way, but our loss we must acknowledge, and we must depend upon each other to continue to move; there is no use in moving backward.

How does that show in our work now?  It shows in our continued prioritization of protecting Michigan’s waters, but also our concern about access to clean and affordable water and the technological advances that threaten that access.  It shows in our renewed efforts to bring people into the knowledge that our folks are still in the midst of racial oppression and the burying of truth and history.  It means that we acknowledge the need to create something together that reinforces having youth voices in the room and in our decisions for our communities.  It means that we have to vision TOGETHER.  We are beings that need to be in community, so why don’t we just vision together?  In the early part of 2026, while we individually work through our goals and dreams, who we will help, and how we will help ourselves: can we also vision together?  While we do need financial support to continue, that part is a click away.  To vision together, can we please ask that you keep in touch with us? That you share your dreams and visions with us too?  This work can only continue with us unified. That is what I know Holly would love – for us to continue to connect with each other.  

What can you do now? It’s short and sweet, but answering some questions for us is a start.  We want to be in touch with you and have some things to mail out to you to enjoy and also to share. We also want to build a collective visioning board as a Michigan community – and we will share ways you can participate starting in January.  In the meantime, I wish for all of your people to stay safe, healthy, rested, and cognizant of the needs of our beloved communities.

“What if this darkness that we’re feeling is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?” (Valerie Kaur)