It’s a wild world. CoLab is focusing on hope.
We are seeing a lot of sudden change, disruption and uncertainty. Since January, one organization we know has been ordered to take down their website, without good guidance on what changes are needed.
One friend who works at a food bank said that charitable giving is still fine, but she worries how government funding cuts will affect such programs as afterschool meals for kids, or groceries for seniors.
One longtime client who works in public health is seeing colleagues lose their jobs, and worries what will happen to disease prevention programs.
We’re also seeing people organize to support their communities. A former CoLabr who lives near the Canadian border has seen an increase in immigration patrols. It’s creating fear, such that even immigrant workers who are in the country legally are afraid to leave the house. Our colleague’s community has responded by delivering groceries to immigrant neighbors.
A friend once told me the only way to combat despair is to take action in our own sphere of influence, and do our best to let go of the things we can’t affect.
Some CoLabrs are part of a volunteer effort to create technology that will be useful for people who are fighting for justice. We’ll be reaching out to other like-minded developers to pool ideas and resources to make this happen quickly. We will make it open source and give it away.
We’d like your help in deciding what to build.
If you live in the US, what needs are you seeing in your area? An app for organizing volunteers? An app that informs you about the rights of documented immigrants? These are just two ideas and I’m sure you have more.
Because all of us are better than any of us.