Closing Remarks #15

If there is one sentence that I try to let guide me through my days, it is this: Attend to what is.

For me, it means be present to what is in front of me. My body, my surroundings, my loved ones, my neighbors; these are what and who I am called to focus my attention on at any given moment. And this can only be done if I keep my feet on the ground and my head in the present.

Over this past week, I've heard and witnessed a lot of people panicking about what they fear will happen in some unknown future while wishing things had gone differently in the past. As for me, I dwell here at the end, and the beauty of most endings is the finality. It is shut, nail in the coffin, stick a fork in it. It is often only when we accept something is done, that we can take the opportunity --- or even accept the gift! ---- of honoring the thing, turning away from it, and breathing into the next moment...alive to what is now.

After the second death in 2024, activists near Tacoma, Washington's Northwest Detention Center are demanding that the government and its private prison partner GEO Group shut the center to prevent anymore needless deaths. Concerned advocates report a persistent pattern of medical neglect in the space.

Cases launched by the EPA and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund questioned the Fifth Ward Elementary School's location, which is mere steps from Denka Performance Elastomer, a toxic chemical plant in Reserve, Louisiana that produces neoprene. Despite state-level balking at EPA overreach, the school claims it is closing due to falling enrollment.

3) Scottish veterans charity to shutter its doors
Though it was described as a "one-stop shop", offering support, advice, and mental health care for veterans, Veterans First Point Lothian in Ednburgh, Scotland will mark its last day in April 2025. The group was a victim of cuts at the national and regional level.

4) NZ funding challenges force orgs to shut
Families Achieving Balance was a not-for-profit community trust that provided free social services to families in the Tauranga area of New Zealand's Bay of Plenty region. Their wind down comes amidst a trend of dwindling funding options for Aotearoa's third sector.

5) Scottish social welfare non-profit cuts staff and ends operations
After over 10 years of promoting social and digital inclusion, Edinburgh's People Know How has run out of funds and made the difficult decision to cease operations. The organization used their announcement to sound the alarm about flagging financial government support for Scotland's third sector.

Over the past few weeks, the TRAC congregate homeless shelter in Spokane was spun down as the city worked to successfully move 136 people to alternative housing options. The decision came amidst a several-year public-private discussion in the city about mounting homelessness particularly in its downtown area.

8) UK book recycling group writes its final chapter
With a dozen years in and more than over half a million books donated to young people, Re-Read in Doncaster, a city in England's Yorkshire region, has unfortunately lost its space and with it their ability to operate. Though the group survived natural disasters, Brexit, and the pandemic, they could no longer meet the expenses needed to stay open.

9) Military university shuts doors, goes completely digital
Missouri-based Webster University is finally closing down its remaining nine physical locations between now and May 2025. The 40 year-old university once boasted campuses across 43 US military bases, but the past few years have found it failing due to financial mismanagement. As such, the university will be going entirely online. Leaders insist that few staff will be affected by the change.

10) Bites, bad morale, and board drama bring shelter to heel
Drama around a push to euthanize troubled animals has lead to the "soft closure" of BENCHS animal sanctuary in Mankato, Minnesota. After the board pushed back on staff demand to put down animals that had repeatedly attacked them, a slew of team members publicly resigned and left the organization unable to operate. Remaining staff and board members are now hoping to regroup and bring in new employees to re-open the city's only animal shelter.

11) Colorado church steps up to fill some severe weather needs
In Denver, Colorado, there is already snow on the ground, and unhoused communities are feeling the pinch from the August sunset of the Severe Weather Shelter Network, a faith-based nonprofit that coordinated emergency housing for wintry nights. While a local church, Mission Arvada has moved in to fill the need for housing during the coldest nights, it is only able to house a fraction of the population that was previously served by SWSN.

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