Featured Image:Marine Corps Ball 2002- Cpl. Derrick Miller and later-to-be spouse Carrie Miller
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"We live in an interconnected world, but we make decisions primarily motivated by what benefits us. Even though weβre wired for empathy, research shows that itβs largely reserved for people we consider to be in our ingroup. This leaves vast groups of people not considered at all, or even harmed by our decisions."
https://www.mindful.org/how-we-can-all-thrive-in-an-interconnected-world/
Special message from CAN's Executive Director, Derrick Miller.
Disclaimer: The topic is intense, and includes depictive language and imagery of the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis.
Dear CAN Community,
To get to the point, I am heading to Poland on Sunday, April 3rd, and making my way to the Ukrainian border. Please take a moment to learn why and what we can do as a community.
Over my past 20 years of service, whether it be in the US Marine Corps, as an educator in AAPS, or serving in the nonprofit sector, I have come to truly see the depth and breadth in how we are all interconnected. It is at the core of CAN's mission of community building and neighborhood-based approach, and a primary driver for CAN's remarkable outcomes and impact. On a daily basis, we bring families together with extraordinary backgrounds that include lived experiences, refugee resettlement, incarceration, homelessness, trauma, extreme poverty, and so much more. Despite these challenges, those involved in CAN communities see how interconnected we are and we work together to create an environment nurturing brighter futures!
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Image:Bryant Back to School BBQ 2021
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As of today, there are over 4 million Ukrainians that have fled their homes seeking safety and shelter. For context, this is comparable to 40% of all Michiganders gone and for an even more complete picture, this figure does not include Ukrainians internally displaced within Ukraine. Every 2-3 days, approximately 125,000-150,000 new Ukrainians seek refuge, which is equivalent to the entire City of Ann Arbor becoming desolate.
Then, there is widespread and indiscriminate destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure with no building, utility, or resource spared. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, over 90% of all buildings have been destroyed. Once a population of over 450,000, Mariupol is a shell of its former self.
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Image:Mariupol, March 22, 2022 - Maximilian Clarke / Story Picture Agency via Shutterstock
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How are we interconnected and
why does it matter?
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What is evolving in Ukraine is a direct result of geopolitical divides, which in simplistic terms is the West (primarily a pluralistic viewpoint by nature of democratic institutions) vs Russia (primarily an individualist/Putin-backed political viewpoint). With growing consideration of Western values in eastern European countries, the Soviet-era of states serving as a buffer between these two sets of values has become smaller. Those caught in the middle of these conflicts suffer the most, and Ukraine has not been the only one.
This shouldn't be a foreign concept to all of us. There is a myriad of ways in which this divide and points of friction exist within our community. Social constructs like redlining, racial deed restrictions, unjust incarceration, lynchings, and segregation are root causes of racism, poverty, and trauma. We have a growing understanding in our community that these are completely unacceptable practices. An interconnectedness understanding and approach will help to heal these traumas, and uproot racism and poverty. CAN and many other nonprofits and organizations do this work every day and are only made possible because of our supportive community.
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Image:Redlining in Macon, Georgia of "hazardous areas" in which 91% of formerly redlined neighborhoods is now mostly comprised of BIPOC/minorities.
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So wait, what is the interconnectedness with Ukrainian refugees and how is it even comparable to our own ill-conceived social constructs!? These are admittedly broad strokes but the core factor is widely recognized. It has long been established during the Soviet-era and post-Soviet-era that many eastern European countries served as a physical barrier, and this purpose remains true to even today. The United States and West as well as Russia being the dominant powers used these countries primarily for ensuring their own safety. It is a similar mindset that supporters of segregation, redlining, and other pearl necklace clutching strategies used to ensure their own safety through compromising another's safety and well-being.
Our community has only started to heal when we began to deny these destroyers of interconnectedness and accepted an openness and understanding of everyone's needs. We can do this work within our own community by not only ensuring policies that increase affordable housing, but we do so in a way that focuses on integration and not segregation into Washtenaw County's moderate and affluent areas. In a growing interconnected global community and in a position culturally, politically, and economically to be the biggest purveyor of this healing process, we need to step up and step up big!
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Image:Wellness activity in Arrowwood Hills Community Center Summer Camp 2021
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First and foremost, this is not CAN's mission. It is why I will be using PTO and using personal resources to cover all of my expenses. It is, however, very much part of CAN's story both now and in the near future as Ukrainian refugees eventually join our community. It is also CAN's broader story of interconnectedness and the values it holds with utmost importance.
I have no Polish or Ukrainian roots. In fact, my mom was an orphan from Colombia, which has been experiencing a massive migration of Venezuelans due to the collapse of the Venezuelan economy and government. However, CAN has actually worked with many refugees in our history. Our staff has helped undocumented residents (another form of refugeeism due to dire economic opportunity and lack of community safety), Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis, Sudanese, and many others over the years. There is also the recent influx of Afghanis (~800 families) that are in the process of settling in the area thanks in large part to Jewish Family Services and several other local nonprofits. It's also worth noting that communities that accept and support refugees prosper as well (a win-win-win).
Having personally experienced war, near-death explosions, and the loss of fellow Marines, I have this acute empathy and depth of understanding for what these Ukrainian families are experiencing as well as recognizing my own military experience does not even remotely compare to the vulnerability and atrocious nature of what is unfolding upon civilians...I have to do something.
It will still be a drop in the bucket but with the work that we do and with enough people providing another drop for that bucket, we can truly be a more complete, interconnected, and nurturing society for all.
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US Marine Capt. Sheppard, a fellow Iraqi war veteran, reached out about a week ago seeking out additional support as he began to lay the groundwork. Fast-forwarding to today, we have local Polish contacts including a doctor, translators, and several immigration lawyers. He arrived on March 29th with 15 duffel bags of various supplies. One day later, he reached Lublin, Poland and Ukrainians have received and will be taking the bulk of these supplies back within Ukraine where humanitarian support is hardest to reach.
As I arrive, we will begin to pivot our focus to providing direct financial and logistical support (ie. helping refugees reach their desired end destination) for Ukrainian refugees based in Poland. The point is to get cash in hands of refugees with as minimal barriers as possible and into a more stable environment.
The current efforts underway, particularly by locals, governments and NGOs, are quite remarkable but nowhere near sufficient to keep up with the daily influx of new refugees. Even when donating to an NGO (non-governmental organization = nonprofit), there is always going to be a lag when those resources come in and when they reach people. This is something I'm well aware of because even organizations like CAN experience it. There are systems and processes in place to better ensure resources are used appropriately. However, these same systems although sometimes subtle can cause significant choke points in quickly developing crises.
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First and foremost, many of our community's nonprofits are already providing key resources for refugees as well as shoring up our effort's toward interconnectedness. It is a critical tool in addressing racism, poverty, and trauma! By supporting these local efforts, you are increasing their capacity.
For donors that want to explore ways to help with the upcoming trip to Poland, please message Derrick Miller at dmiller@canwashtenaw.org.
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For donors that want their dollars local and tackling both the short and long-term needs of our community, Community Action Network is an excellent choice!
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For donors that want their dollars local and focused on refugees, it hardly gets better than Jewish Family Services.
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For donors that want their dollars focused on the international organizations helping with the Ukrainian refugee crisis, here is a list of options provided by Charity Navigator.
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Thank you CAN community for being a growing force for positive change! You rose to the challenges set forth by the pandemic by equipping CAN with the resources to double its food security options overnight. Your generosity helped CAN sustain operations for an unprecedented demand 2 years later despite $0 COVID-related government program support dollars.
Help us step up to the challenge again! We have incredible opportunities to invest big into our under-resourced communities and the dividends truly benefit us all. It is at the core of why Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are considered one of the top places to live.
Stay tuned for updates from Poland!
Derrick Miller, MPA, CMPH-AS
dmiller@canwashtenaw.org / 734.994.2985 ext. 101
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