Dear friends and neighbors,

We have entered 2024 – happy New Year! Next week, I'll mark my third year with this wonderful organization, which is just a drop in the Goodman Center's storied history. This year, the center will celebrate 70 years of building community on Madison's east side – 70 years!

That's 70 years of strengthening lives and securing futures; 70 years of neighbors coming together to support one another; 70 years of kids and adults finding a place that is theirs right here in our community.

We'll be celebrating this important milestone all year long, so please keep an eye out for stories and events to come.

This week, we also celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I love that this day always comes so soon after the start of the New Year, when folks are thinking about resolutions. It's a call to all of us to resolve to get involved not only in serving others but in working toward a just world for every one of our neighbors.

I'd like to issue a challenge to all of us this year with this quote from Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail: "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."

I'm challenging myself this year to engage more deeply in social justice work, to find ways that I can use my strengths and power to do more to right the wrongs in our community. I hope you will join me in challenging yourself in a similar way, no matter what that might look like.

Thank you for your support in 2023. I'm excited for what 2024 has in store for this community.

With gratitude,

Letesha Nelson, CEO / Executive Director

P.S. Our very own Eastside News is also marking an important milestone this year: 100 years! This little community paper has been around longer than Goodman, and we're proud to play a part in its history. Read more about 100 years of Eastside News here.