March 7, 2025
Dear Health Partners,
One of our primary roles as The Health Collaborative is that of convener. We bring people together across sectors, across communities, and across experiences. We create space for partners to build relationships, explore possibilities, and work together to improve the health and well-being of the Dan River Region.
Often, that requires connecting across difference. Individuals and organizations come together around a shared vision, but things can get messy when partners have different preferred methods, different short-term goals, different capacities, different belief systems, and/or different political ideologies.
That’s all much easier to navigate with a neutral partner, one who is working to advance the interests of everyone involved and impacted.
But what does it mean to be neutral?
There are two commonly accepted definitions of neutrality –
- the state of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartiality.
- bsence of decided views, expression, or strong feeling.
Neither seem particularly easy to achieve. We recognize that we each have our own personal beliefs and lived experiences that shape our perspectives and create biases or those strong feelings and preferences.
So, instead we turn our focus to cultivating a practice of impartiality.
How do we remain impartial, or neutral, despite all those personal beliefs and preferences?
- We must first identify and confront our own biases. We understand that it is impossible to completely eliminate bias in decision-making, which is why we believe it is crucial to explore how our own personal beliefs and preferences may influence or show up in conversation, decision-making, or other practice. This heightened self-awareness allows us to keep those biases in check. Those of us on staff are intentional in naming our biases so we can better hold ourselves and one another accountable for recentering ourselves in a state of neutrality.
- We recognize that we don’t have all the answers and may not even always know which questions to ask. We intentionally seek out others who have knowledge, experiences, and beliefs different than our own to give us a broader understanding of our community, our challenges, our opportunities, and the policies and systems that impact us all.
- We believe people are the experts of their own lived experience and we want to learn from everyone we encounter. For example, we do not have to experience homelessness ourselves or become experts in housing policy to better understand the complexities of the housing crisis, IF we are willing to look to those in our community who ARE experiencing homelessness and the folks who ARE working to address homelessness as the experts. Data drives our decision-making but when we see that data reflected in the stories people share with us, it allows us a more complete picture, which often leads to more effective strategies and interventions. When we come together to share our experiences and approach one another with more curiosity than judgment, it becomes much easier to identify our commonality and the real-time implications of policy and systems on our lives and our community. This practice tends to prevent us from focusing only on our differences which often only leads to distraction and division.
- We let go of our need to be in control. This one is probably the hardest for most of us. We are all working towards a healthy community where everyone has what they need to thrive, but there are countless strategies that could be used for us to reach that vision. From the beginning, it was important to The Health Collaborative that this work be data-driven and community-led. Sometimes community members and other partners opt for a strategy that may not have been our first choice, but that does not mean it is the wrong choice. It is important for us to recognize which decisions are actually ours to make and to focus our efforts, not on changing anyone’s mind, but on providing our partners and communities with the information and support they need to make the best decisions for themselves, the clients they serve, and the communities they call home.
The Dangers of Neutrality
Many have tried to warn us that neutrality can also be dangerous.
- “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” – Dante Alighieri
- “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” – Elie Wiesel
- “Neutrality is a negative word. It does not express what America ought to feel. We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt.” – Woodrow Wilson
We keep these warnings in mind as we consider our own neutrality and are reminded that neutrality does not require silence, nor does it require turning a blind eye to injustice.
For example, if there are conversations happening about the housing crisis and we look around the room and see that there is no one in that room who has ever been unhoused, we will likely advocate to bring them into the conversation, even if that means moving the time or location of that conversation or making other accommodations. Does that mean we are showing preferential treatment to the people who have been unhoused or somehow helping one group of people over another? Or does that mean we’re demonstrating and maintaining our neutrality by doing what we can to ensure that everyone impacted can participate?
So, when we tell you that we are a neutral convener, we are not claiming to have no personal beliefs and preferences of our own as individuals. We are instead committing to you that we consider your beliefs, preferences, and experiences to be just as valid as our own.
As neutral conveners, we suspend any judgment as to who’s right and who’s wrong in service of getting things done for the greater good of our collective vision for a healthy Dan River Region.
We hope you’ll join us for some of the upcoming shared learning opportunities, events, and Community Dialogues listed below. We also invite you to visit TheHealthCollab.newsfor more partners announcements, resources, and community events.
-Shannon
Thursday, March 13, 2025 at Noon
This is the second installment of our housing conversation. This month we will be addressing organizations that are working with the unhoused population. The Dan River Region has seen a significant increase in this population in the last few years. Let’s learn together why this population is growing so quickly, who is being affected, how these organizations are working to alleviate the conditions the unhoused face, and more importantly how you can help.
Pastor Willis Ferrell, Founder
The Redemption Center Church
Sharon Hendricks, Executive Director
Haven of the Dan
Mathew Fowler, Executive Directo
House of Hope
The monthly gathering of the Caswell Chapter of The Health Collaborative that would normally be held on Tuesday, March 18th has been cancelled to free up time for partners to attend the Racial Equity Institute’s Groundwater Approach in Danville.
Learn more about that offering HERE and below.
Pittsylvania County Chapter Meeting
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 11:30am
Join us for the March 25, 2025 Meeting of the Pittsylvania County Chapter of The Health Collaborative where we continue to serve as a regional convener and facilitator and provide opportunities for shared learning, leadership development and collective action toward health equity.
Join us for lunch and work group sessions.
REI’s Groundwater on March 18th
JOIN US FOR A FREE COMMUNITY TRAINING ON THE “GROUNDWATER APPROACH” BY THE RACIAL EQUITY INSTITUTE.
The groundwater metaphor is designed to help practitioners at all levels internalize the reality that we live in a racially structured society, and that is what causes racial inequity. With this in mind, the groundwater metaphor shifts the focus away from the view of racism as personal bigotry and bias to a historical, cultural, and structural analysis of racism.
Participants will leave the training with an understanding of how systems produce unjust and inequitable outcomes, and will thus be better prepared to work for change.
Schedule:
- 10 am – 1 pm: Groundwater Approach Training with REI
- 1 – 1:45 pm: Lunch
- 1:45 – 3 pm: Debrief and Discussion with the Virginia Department of Health and The Health Collaborative’s Health Equity Taskforce
Expectations:
Spaces are limited and all participants should be present and engaged for the duration of the workshop. Leaving or joining the training late can be disruptive to the flow and sharing of information. Out of respect to the trainers and other participants, please, only sign up for this training if you are prepared to stay the entire time!
This training is brought to you by the Virginia Rural Health Association, The Health Collaborative, Dan River Nonprofit Network, Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Southside program, and PATHS AHEC.
Join Us for a Community Dialogue in April
Community is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean to you? How do we define community? How do we determine which communities we call home? How do we develop the collective capacity of a community to thrive?
Is trust necessary for that? Trust in whom, or what? What would it look like to trust our community? What do we need to trust each other?
We invite you to join us in exploring these questions in April’s Community Dialogue – a VIRTUAL gathering of curious community members who suspect we might be smarter and stronger together than on our own.
What is a community dialogue?
A community dialogue is not a presentation or a workshop. It is also not like most conversations we experience. It is an opportunity for community members to speak their truth, to hear the truths held by others, and to practice listening to understand as opposed to listening to respond or to prove a point.
This offering is FREE but please REGISTER HERE.
Check Out These Partner Announcements and Events
- 2025 Executive Orders & Key Legislation Chart compiled and updated by the National Council of Nonprofits
- DRF Launches Two New Fellowship Positions
- Provider Lunch & Learn at PACE Centra
- VDH Healthy Heart Event
- Unveiling of Yanceyville’s Before Us Mural
Please be sure to check out our new online newsletter, News & Notes at TheHealthCollab.news for even more partner announcements, tools, resources, and a robust meeting and events calendar. Have something to share? Send it to info@TheHealthCollab.com
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