There is an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this little community of parents, caregivers, and supporters who keep showing up for one another, for our neighbors, and for the world we want our children to inherit.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, our little crew has:
Packed 33 literacy kits for Title I families and teachers.
Organized a bike ride with 43 people participating to get out the vote for Cincinnati Public Schools.
Colored 50 postcards to mail to voters.
Made signs, waved signs, and showed up together on 3 different occasions, with children as young as 6 months in tow.
Then, on Election Day, our community showed up once more. The Cincinnati Public School levy passed!
It was an amazing feeling to wake up the next morning and tell my own kids that they should be very proud of themselves, because they played their part to make it happen. It’s a reminder, that our children have been taking it all in. They've heard the conversations, held their own signs, climbed into bike trailers, colored postcards, celebrated with us, and watched the people they love make time for the things that matter.
They're learning that being part of a community means more than simply living alongside one another. It means caring about what happens to our neighbors, finding our voices, and believing that our voices and actions matter.
At our Open Play date on Election Day, we brought that lesson into the Children’s Garden. The kids got to cast their own votes on spring garden plans, and then we got our hands in the dirt together. A team of 3 preschoolers took on the leadership of planting 24 tulip bulbs - we call them the leaders of our beautification committee now!
There is something beautiful about inviting children to participate in the things we hope they will carry forward. We don't have to shield them from everything that's hard or pretend we have all the answers. We can let them see what it looks like to care deeply, to participate, to stand and speak up alongside our neighbors, even when we disagree, and to keep planting seeds for a better future.
Passing the school levy and Children’s Services levy were meaningful victories, but the work of building the communities we imagine for our children doesn't end with an election. We'll keep learning, asking better questions, showing up, and finding ways to care for one another. And when life gets harder for the people and families we love, we'll be in it together.
Because that's what community is, at its heart: a willingness to keep showing up, to celebrate one another's victories, to hold one another through difficult seasons, and to plant something beautiful even when we can't yet see what will grow.
One sign, one bike ride, one conversation, one literacy kit, one tulip bulb, and one loving hug at a time.
Whatever tomorrow brings, we go together.
