Looking Back, Looking Forward

Photo by Project Legacy college student, C. Will, Senior at Jackson State University

As we look forward to the beginning of Black History Month in February, we anticipate the ability to celebrate with our friends, family and young people. Yet, this spring, we also anticipate the beginning of the jury selection for Derek Chauvin’s trial on March 8th. 

Chauvin, as we all know, is charged with second degree murder and manslaughter for kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes last May. 

Looking forward and looking back. This is the time we are living in now more than ever before it seems. In March, it will be one year when, for many of our young people, life stopped in many ways. In person classes stopped. Schools closed. Jobs were lost. Friends and family became sick and many loved ones died of COVID-19.

For us at Project Legacy, these last 12 months have been a whirlwind of activity that has left us having to reimagine everything we do. 

In June, we weren’t sure that we would be able to serve the youth in our community as grants and funding reduced in the face of economic uncertainty. But, even in the midst of this, we continued our work and trusted that the universe would provide as it always had. 

Here, we have a strong belief that the work we do is sacred and guided by principles of justice, love, integrity and honor. As the result of George Floyd’s tragic killing, youth in Minneapolis and St. Paul asked us to expand to serve those who were hurting. As a result, we are now supporting 15 additional young people in the Metro area. Then, our expansion in Minnesota, brought even more expansion to North Dakota, Colorado and Mississippi. 

Last year, Project Red Umbrella was also born at the request of a young woman who had spent nine years working in the commercial sex industry and who asked for assistance in exiting and creating a plan for a new future. Today, she has provided encouragement, guidance and support for 7 other young adults who were ready to leave this industry and begin new futures. 

It was difficult for our youth to transition away from the in-person Circles they have grown accustomed to, but over time, our Zoom Circles grew, and now our youth tell us they look forward to them the same way they used to look forward to in-person Circles. We know that grieving what was is necessary in order to move on, and that has been a part of our experience these past 12 months. 

We have supported one another on screens in darkened rooms as tears were shed as one person after another, week after week, shared updates on the passing of yet another loved one lost to COVID-19. We listened, we comforted, we helped one another as best as we could in the strangest times we’ve ever lived in. 

Yet, through all of this, we are grateful that Project Legacy has grown stronger as a community and as a nonprofit. Our programs have grown, our numbers have expanded, and fiscally, we are stronger than ever before. 

Project Legacy is made up of people who share the values of kinship, tenderness, humility and integrity. We cling to these values, we teach these values, and we believe it is because of these values that our volunteers and donors have continued to provide. In turn, we are able to provide to the countless youth who have needed our support more than ever before this year. 

As we look forward to the year ahead of us, we are hopeful that the vaccine will finally be delivered to all of us who want it and that once again, we will be able to gather safely. We are so grateful to all of you who continue to support our work of erasing the margins that separate us, instead building a world where everyone has the opportunity to realize their dreams and achieve their goals.

In the coming weeks, we will be introducing you to some of our new staff, volunteers and youth as well as board members who have joined us this past year. We look back to learn from the past year, but look forward with hope for a fresh start and new possibilities. 

With gratitude, 

Karen