Gratitude and Growth
January 2022
Here we are! My queer family sings a song when we're together for meals that starts out "here we are, all together..." and I have found myself saying that phrase (and then telling this anecdote) often this January for some reason. Maybe because I am longing, like so many of us, to actually be all together. Maybe because I am surprised that I have arrived here to this time and place from the other side of a pre-covid wormhole? Maybe because I am feeling so thankful for the togetherness I have had these past few months and am wanting to somehow hold on to it. However it is that we have made it to here, here we are.
The subject line I gave this email is "gratitude + growth," and there is a lot of both in this newsletter!
I want to share that Aiden & Eva will both be moving on from their staff roles in the coming months. Aiden at the end of January and Eva moving to part time at the end of January and fully on from her role at the end of March. The timing of their decisions has been purely coincidental! And I am happy to be able to support each of them shifting their lives in different ways. (See more from Eva & Aiden in their own words further on in this newsletter.)
Eva, thank you for the heart you have brought to your work. I have loved witnessing how you hold our community and have learned a lot about facilitation presence from you.
Aiden, thank you for doing development work in a way that has been aligned with our values, full of integrity, and with a lot of care for our community.
OITO is better off as an organization and community, and I am better off as a person and leader for having worked with each of you.
And we’re also celebrating and honoring growth with the addition of a new board member, Lucy Kahn, and of a new staff member, Jake McBride, who joins as our Health Justice Organizer! Lucy has hit the ground running by lending her energy to more engaging financial reports as Board Treasurer. And I am so excited for all of you to get to meet and work with Jake! He has already been sharing his brilliance and thoughtfulness during these first couple of weeks and I feel lucky to be working alongside him. Thank you and welcome, Jake and Lucy! (See more from each of them in their own words below as well.)
So, as usual, much afoot here. Yes, we will be hiring for staff roles in the coming months and are going to take some time to determine exactly what those roles are going to look like. Much more on that to come from us soon. In the meantime, join us for a Mutual Aid Round Table (details below) or sign up to receive a test kit if you haven’t already.
Onward with love & gratitude-
--
HB Lozito [they/them]
Executive Director
hb@WeAreOutintheOpen.org
Welcome Jake!
Hello All,
My name is Jake (he/him) and I am so excited to be joining the Out in the Open team and community! As the Health Justice Organizer, I will be spearheading the new Health Buddy Program. The Health Buddy Program is a fantastic opportunity to lower barriers to healthcare for rural LGBTQ+ folks and ensure that our community members are receiving the care they need. Your input and experiences will be greatly appreciated in the building of this program and I look forward to connecting with many of you virtually and (hopefully) in person throughout this process. Best, Jake
__________________________
A queer, multiracial person of color, Jake (he/him/his) has applied his personal experience and passion for community organizing to a variety of roles. Since moving to Vermont, he has guided youth through mental health struggles at True North Wilderness Program, done custom carpentry in the NEK, worked to grow BIPOC community networks, and organized for a fair, equitable, and racially diverse rural Vermont with the Vermont Releaf Collective.
Prior to living in Vermont, Jake worked on cultural festivals in Louisiana, facilitated virtual racial equity workshops in Massachusetts, and restored classic automotive parts at a hot rod shop in Connecticut. In his free time, Jake can be found folk dancing with friends, working on his truck, playing pond hockey, hiking, and engaging with other queer car enthusiasts.
Welcome Lucy!
Lucy Kahn (she/her) has been making a home among the plants, mountains, rivers, and queer folks of western MA, Pocumtuc and Nipmuc land, since 2015. After getting politicized in interconnected movements for food justice, racial justice, and economic justice a decade ago, she has worked in various roles in the food system, from farm educator to urban gardener to community organizer to fermenter.
She is a bass player (bluegrass and country music loving queers, let’s pick some tunes!) and a big facilitation nerd. If you run into her around town, she is always up for hearing about the last delicious thing you ate, your favorite protest songs/chants, or whatever is blooming around you.
THANK YOU AIDEN!
Hi community friends,
Lots of transition this month!
After much contemplation, I am changing my name to Aiden. This is a name I first used years ago, & I’ve realized it's a better fit for who I am. Thank you for seeing me and knowing me, dear friends.
At the end of January, I'm also going to be transitioning out of my role at Out in the Open. It's been so amazing to be part of the team for the last 2.5 years! We're grown so much - gone through collective grief and conflict, made powerful new connections, organized for community care, health justice, and ending white supremacy culture. I feel so honored to have had the chance to share my perspective and labor with an organization that is so important & close to my heart.
There is so much more opportunity and joy ahead for Out in the Open! Please keep sharing resources, time, and funds with our rural LGBTQ communities. Sending deep care, love, and solidarity to you all!
<3 - Aiden [Feel free to connect on my social media or email.]
THANK YOU EVA!
Out in the Open family!
I am writing with all types of big feelings. Feelings of gratitude, love, care, grief and so much more. I am so grateful for my time at Out in the Open- and for me, that time is transitioning to an end.
Out in the Open's vision and work is deeply inspiring to me, and I feel so grateful to have been part of this vision for the past 2+ years. I feel so grateful to have gotten to know you, our community, in different ways over the last 2+ years. From the winter movie night series to the Welcome Party [right before the pandemic hit], to zoom hangouts, our organizing for health justice, connecting with folks through our phone tree, our mutual aid distribution work, and so much more- it has been a pleasure to connect and be in community with each of you! I look forward to remaining in community with you, building the beautiful, vibrant queer liberated future we’re working toward!
<3, Eva [I'm still around part time until the end of March, feel free to send me an emailand reach out!]