Looking Ahead to 2023

We are entering into this next year with energy for deep community engagement, relationship building, new programming, and transformative work.

You will be hearing much more about all these emerging areas of focus for us in the coming months. We offer brief highlights of our planned Strategic Activities in 2023. Direct Services: Our approach is to listen to community, clients we already support, and partners to identify emerging or unmet needs in the valley. Room One was founded to provide local supports and resources when what was needed was not available. With this in mind, we are creating new programming for those living with addiction and substance use and are deepening our offerings for those seeking to rebuild healthy relationships after experiencing intimate partner violence. We are also working with our Youth Advisory Board to develop programming for young adults to learn skills that will help make self-sustaining living more accessible.

Prevention: As always, we look to where we can move beyond the crisis to reducing the chances of crisis arising in the first place. In our partnerships this year, we are working with men who are advancing community conversations about how violence prevention takes engaging some deeply ingrained gender norms. And with so many of our valley seniors wanting to age in place, we are partnering with Methow at Home and AeroMethow to work toward supporting fall prevention programming and other in-home modifications that will help make that possible. Advocacy: As we shared last month, we are continuing our work to create a proactive approach to bigger picture change. Our Advocacy Committee, comprised of board, staff, and community members, will be creating a vision for the new staff member we will need to help recreate and lead this new program.

Organizational Development: 2023 is a big year for Room One! It marks our 25th anniversary since being founded by community volunteers working out of the Methow Valley Community Center in 1998. And we will be moving into our new building sometime in late summer, early fall. We are working with staff, board, and history holders from the community to shape a wonderful block party celebration in honor of YOU - the community that made this all happen.

As always, there is more. We continue to practice saying "yes" to what matters most now and for our collective future, and we are learning that this must come alongside saying "no" to other things along the way.