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If you were born at any time after WWII like I was, then you may feel like it’s impossible to recall a more chaotic era in your lifetime than the years following 2020. It’s tempting to lay our sense of doom at the feet of social media or the news.
Yet the facts remain: we’ve escalated from a once-in-a-century global pandemic to the growing possibility of a WWIII that is too unbearable to entertain.
Like you, I’m inundated with emails from myriad nonprofits raising money to support countless worthwhile causes. At this time of year, there are numerous demands on our time and money; some are even urgent and important, such as helping to feed and house people for the winter.
Yet the most invaluable needs for the long term health of our community require taking a wide lens perspective — because the most pressing needs of our youth hinge on education, which requires support from committed donors.
I grew up in Palo Alto in the 1970s. The colossal disparities in access to basic resources like housing, food, and education between our fortunate town and East Palo Alto have been my life’s mission to rectify and it frustrates me to see how maddeningly little progress we’ve made towards systemic changes in supporting our neighbors’ quality of life.
In a world filled with worthwhile charitable causes, deciding where to direct your support can be a daunting task. Should one focus on global charities that tackle larger-scale issues or focus on supporting local causes that directly impact your neighbors living less than a mile away?
To me, the choice is clear. Supporting local causes allows you to directly witness the impact of your contributions on the community. By addressing immediate needs such as food, shelter, education, and healthcare, local charities can make a tangible difference in the lives of individuals within our vicinity in East Palo Alto and Redwood City — where some of the brightest kids without access to basics like wi-fi for homework assignments are swimming upstream to complete high school.
I know there are plenty of priorities and requests for your time and money. But I hope you’ll take a look in our very own backyard. There is an unfortunate lack of opportunity and inequality, which has shown to be endemic in that area for as long as I’ve been alive.
It’s not a one-and-done donation but rather a necessary investment in the long-term success of kids who did not receive these opportunities before, through no fault of their own; they were simply born in a less affluent zip code.
Right here in our own community is a nonprofit with a three-decade track record of supporting local kids in their quest to complete their education called Live in Peace, and their core program: Students Who Achieve Greatness, known as SWAG.
Live In Peace’s deep community roots and a familial approach support’s young people facing economic insecurity and unequal access to opportunity. What started as a project for a few East Palo Alto community members has turned into a robust organization providing wrap-around support to youth so they can reimagine their futures.
Live in Peace is the “village” that it takes to raise a child. It’s a place where young people can get all kinds of support — from help with homework to learning new skills like programming computers, boxing or guitar. If you venture into their after-school tutoring center on any given afternoon, you’ll find teens gathered around tables working on homework and enjoying tasty snacks in a supportive, consistent environment that often eludes their home lives.
The people behind local nonprofits often live and work right in the communities where they serve, and as a result, are uniquely positioned to deliver long-term solutions that are tailor-made for their communities.
Our personal values and connections play a crucial role in determining where to direct our support. If we have a strong connection to our local community or have personally witnessed the challenges it faces, supporting local causes aligns with our values and enables us to make a meaningful impact close to home.
Here in Silicon Valley, we pride ourselves on innovative solutions to vexing questions and on being agile enough to move with the times to solve some of humanity’s most pressing issues. And our local nonprofits, like Live In Peace, are similarly at the cutting edge of community-building. They’re not asking for a billion-dollar valuation for the next artificially intelligent robot. They simply want a chance to provide access to education and to give back to the very communities that helped shape their lives.
That’s something worth investing in — for the long term health of our community, and beyond.
Howard Kushlan is a Palo Alto resident and longtime volunteer for Live in Peace. He can be reached at howardkushlan@gmail.com.