Regional Coordinator

A Note in Uncertain Times – A Letter to Partners

October 1, 2025

Dear Health Partners,

October is starting off with lots of uncertainty and a fair amount of concern about what the future holds thanks to the government shutdown – and yet, across the Dan River Region I continue to see community members showing up for one another, moving into tomorrow together. 

AND I see the institutions, funders, and community-based organizations making themselves available, creating capacity, cultivating knowledge, and crafting opportunities that support a healthy, thriving Dan River Region. It truly is a beautiful thing. 

Have you seen the Pittsylvania County Candidate Forum hosted by the Danville-Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce? 

Groups across the region are hosting fall festivals, health fairs, and learning opportunities. Check out the calendars HERE and submit your own event HERE. 

There is so much to celebrate! It makes me especially excited for the Health Summit – January 14! 

I often remind myself of all this cause for celebration as our news cycle is dominated by violence, division, and scarcity.  

I don’t think it’s normal for us to be watching videos of people getting murdered. I’m old enough to remember when people advocated heavily against exposing youth to violent media content. I don’t understand how we went from arguing over whether or not Bugs Bunny shooting Daffy Duck promoted gun violence to not being able to go on any news channel or social media feed without seeing graphic content of people being violently murdered. 

Tensions are high. Many things are changing, quickly. There’s a lot of people worried about the impact of those changes. There’s a lot of people worried about their own personal safety. We should all be doing what we can to take care of our mental health. I invite you to share and explore resources like NAMI, the 988 Lifeline, DPCS, VAYA, PATHS, and Compassion Healthcare. 

If you’re an employer or organization leader, I encourage you to check out THIS TOOLKIT that highlights the impacts trauma has on workplaces and the trauma-informed practices that can support your staff and mitigate the harm those impacts could have on your organization.   

Meanwhile, please know that you’re not alone. I invite you explore and subscribe to our online newsletter, News and Notes for additional resources, tools, and curated sources of up-to date information on things like the impact of the government shutdown or the proposed budget’s impact on public health. 

I also invite you to join us for a local chapter meeting or pop in to any of the upcoming community events hosted by our partners. There’s a lot of good people doing good work across the region! None of us have to do that work alone. 

-Shannon

Upcoming Chapter Meetings – The Health Collaborative

Check Out These Partner Announcements & Events

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