Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
With a new year, comes a feeling of opportunity. The opportunity to reflect on the past, to assess the current status of things, and to re-establish both focus and priorities (both new and long-standing ones). At SV@Home, we have been in the process of doing all of the above for the past year or so through strategic planning, and I am thrilled to share with you all (our co-conspirators) the result of this reflection, assessment, re-focusing, and prioritizing. I hope that in the pages of this Strategic Plan you all are able to clearly see our commitment to leadership in the collective work of actualizing a Santa Clara County where we all can flourish.
We did the work of deep and broad listening among our members and heard the following:
“SV@Home needs to lean into having a thoughtful narrative on how race plays out in the housing and displacement discussions… [They should] be assertive about naming race.”
“I see them as a connector. With this ability to have connections across sectors, geographies, issue areas etc., their educational and convening events provide an opportunity… to connect and share and find synergy.”
“To be successful to move your agenda forward, you will have to take risks… You will have to rock the boat to create change.”
Feedback is a gift, and your feedback, composed of both critique and encouragement, provided the insight that we needed to produce new core statements, including revised mission and vision statements, to be more explicit about our role in the affordable housing ecosystem and our commitment to leading through honesty, transparency, and care towards justice and shared prosperity. We recognize that liberatory work is long range work, meaning that we are not declaring ourselves immediately a transformative, fully inclusive organization on this day, but rather we are committing to the journey to liberation. Please know that we expect these new statements to offer clarity and standards of accountability to you and to the work that we do together, and we ask that with grace and care you hold us to these commitments.
And, as I reflect on grace and care, I think of our neighbors in Los Angeles who are currently suffering, displaced from their homes, their neighborhoods due to wildfires. This is a terrible tragedy that requires our love, light, and support, while demonstrating that none of us are insulated from disasters tied to climate change. If you are looking for ways to support the people impacted by the wildfires in LA, we have shared some links below:
https://www.philanthropyca.org/2025-california-disaster-response
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.