Dear friends & neighbors,

Three weeks in, and 2022 is proving to be a year to be reckoned with. This omicron variant has us all on edge. I will admit, I was spooked by it. But Monday – MLK Day – I had some time to reflect on the Rev. Dr. King's legacy and wisdom, and I was refortified in our mission. We're taking COVID seriously at Goodman. We have since Day 1. We're also going to keep working every day to strengthen lives and secure futures.

Many of you will receive a letter from me in the coming weeks outlining the amazing things we accomplished in 2021, thanks to support from our community. (Read a sneak peek of it here.) And I hope that you will find the same amount of hope in those accomplishments as I did.

Next week, I celebrate a year with the Goodman Center, and I can hardly believe that 365 days have passed since I first walked through GCC's doors. And then I think about all the things we did in 2021, and I can hardly believe more time hasn't passed. It's truly amazing to see what a group of committed people in our community – I'm talking about staff, volunteers, donors and neighbors like you – can accomplish when we set out to work together.

That's a big part of Dr. King's legacy, so let's keep moving forward into 2022. I know we can accomplish great things once again – together.

Take care,

Letesha Nelson, CEO & Executive Director