Dear Ones,

These are exhilarating days. WES is preparing for a new chapter and a new Senior Leader. Current events demonstrate an urgent need for an expression of WES’s values. Members are putting together the pieces in their own lives for moving forward into a COVID-normalized world. A lot is going on that calls WES members back into community to reconnect with each other and to work together on fulfilling WES’s mission. 

We can hope that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, and there are exciting opportunities to rebuild, yet there are still challenges and even threats to the existence of the institutions that can help people thrive in the future. WES is one of those institutions. If WES can survive through these lean months in between the end of lockdowns and the full return to in-person capabilities, better days will be ahead. 

You can help WES to get through this in-between time with a generous donation to the spring fundraiser, The Reunion Campaign: Come Together, Close the Gap. You can donate online anytime by choosing “Reunion” from the drop down menu of funds. 

As members learned from the update sent last week from the Finance Team and from the Board Update in Platform on May 8, WES is facing a significant deficit for the current fiscal year. The reasons for this deficit, the solutions that members can work toward, and the need for WES’s work in the world are all related. They have to do with members experiencing financial hardships, WES’s position as an equal-opportunity rental space, and the need for joy and reconnection. 

Financial Hardships and Member Mutual Support

The economic impact of the pandemic on many WES members ranged from concerning to devastating. Some members had to cut back on work or increase out of pocket costs due to caregiving demands as children and elders were without community support for long periods. Other members lost their jobs entirely. Members who are also small business owners struggled through these last few years. Members who didn’t experience these things directly probably had friends and family who did, and needed to devote personal resources to helping loved ones survive. All of this added up to lower than usual pledge fulfillment at WES. Those who still had resources during the pandemic have been generous, and WES members as a community still have further to go to make up the difference.

Rebuilding WES’s financial strength with the Reunion Campaign not only helps ensure that WES as an institution can carry your values into the future, it is also a supportive act for other members. Some of the members who need WES the most, the members who need companionship and a place to sort out their values when things fall apart, are also members who are in financial distress. Financially sustaining WES is a gift that can help another member.

Rental Income and WES as a Center for Inclusive Events

At this time last year, the Finance Team hoped that increased vaccinations and other public health measures would put WES in a post-pandemic situation by the end of 2021, and that we could expect rentals to gradually return to 2019 levels by the spring of 2022. The virus had more surprises in store, so the return of rental income is progressing much more slowly than anyone could have predicted. The difference in rental income accounts for the majority of the deficit. Meanwhile, the loans and grants that kept WES, other nonprofits, and many small businesses afloat in 2020-2021 are no longer available.

As renters return, we are learning all over again that WES is a safe haven for groups and families who rely on WES as an accepting, values-centered facility where they can rent space. Muslim and Jewish neighbors know that WES won’t evangelize at them. Immigrant neighbors know WES won’t discriminate against them. Neighbors who are looking for wedding or funeral space know that WES understands the tenderness of these turning points and will respect their family’s inherent worth and dignity.

WES’s ability to offer rental space not only brings in necessary income for building-related expenses, it means WES is a force for acceptance and celebration in the wider community. When members make it possible to improve WES’s capacity to serve as a rental facility, this generosity elicits the best in our neighbors.

A donation to the Reunion Campaign will help protect and replenish the reserves so that WES can make any building repairs that come up and can stay hospitable to both members and guests.

Joy and Reconnection

Isolation was already one of the challenges of the modern world, and the pandemic deepened that chasm for almost everyone. Many members are feeling worn out and disconnected. The answer to that is to proactively reconnect, to invest in the relationships and the institutions that participants can grow into new forms for the new normal. Getting used to being together in old and new ways, retooling for the future we are emerging into, celebrating and promoting Humanist values in a world that desperately needs them— all of these will take effort, patience, and investment. Donating to the Reunion Campaign will help the community to find joy in coming back together.

Joy and reconnection are also some of the goals for the May 14 Reunion event at WES. There will be games, a native plant sale, a mini-auction (Nats tickets!), a potluck, a bake sale, and other activities to bring people together. Having fun together can remind members of what is possible in community. This event goes on, rain or shine; most activities will move indoors in case of rain. There is no charge for admission; however, if you are moved to make a gift to the Reunion Campaign during the event, a member of the staff or the Stewardship Team will be glad to help you. 

Though the financial situation needs the serious attention of members, WES also needs the joy of members in reconnecting and renewing commitments to the mission. WES needs the compassion of members for each other in these uncertain times. WES needs the open hearts of members in welcoming neighbors and guests into a precious, unique, inclusive space. Your gift will make a timely difference for WES as a community and for all of the people who are touched by WES’s mission and presence. 

In addition to completing payments on your regular pledge before the end of June, if you have the capacity to make an additional gift to the Reunion Campaign, please consider an amount that is equivalent to one monthly pledge payment. WES members represent a wide range of financial capacities, and members are encouraged to give in a way that supports their own wellbeing as well as the collective wellbeing. Together, members can help WES to bridge the gap and to reach a new and exciting chapter in the Society’s history. 

Thank you for all you do to support WES and to live your values in the world. 

Take care,

-Lyn

Lyn Cox

Interim Senior Leader