Dear Etna,
It has been one of the greatest honors, joys, and learning lessons of my life so far to have worked alongside you, through the Etna EcoDistrict and Etna Community Organization (ECO), to make Etna a more resilient, vibrant, and sustainable place to live, play, and work. And, it is with much bittersweetness that, after 6 years (how time flies!), I will be stepping down from ECO’s Board of Directors at the end of this year to pursue a career in the federal government in Washington, DC (more on my life update at the end).
While this decision wasn’t easy, I am confident it is right, and I am excited to make way for new community members to become involved and carry ECO’s important work forward.
Now, this letter is less of a goodbye (it’s not “goodbye,” it’s “see you soon”) than it is me wanting to express my full and infinite gratitude – more than words can express – for each and every one of you and how you welcomed me, an outsider, into your community with open arms. The experience of learning, visioning, planning, and working alongside you has fundamentally changed my life for the better. Truly.
I first arrived in Etna in 2018 as an AmeriCorps VISTA tasked to support the Etna EcoDistrict community education and engagement effort, and I was immediately inspired by your resilience, grit, and spirit of self-determination. Over that year you showed me what it looks like for a community to build a plan that reflects your vision for a better future (not anyone else's) – a plan built by and for Etna. Then, through the devastating impacts of COVID-19 in 2020 when I was serving as ECO’s first Director, I witnessed how so many of you came together to help those in greatest need. You taught me how to adapt, to care for one another, and to find light in the darkness. I transitioned to ECO’s Board of Directors in 2021 and have since been awestruck by your persistence, despite incredible challenges, to slowly but surely build a library and community center for everyone – the first and most cherished priority in the Etna EcoDistrict Plan.
There are so many more milestones and lessons that I don’t have the space to recount. If Etna taught me one thing it is that beautiful, incredible, against-the-odds things can happen when we work together towards a common goal, on a foundation of love, kindness, and respect for each other and for the places we call home.
Etna may be small, but she is mighty, and I cannot wait to see what the coming years have in store.
With love and gratitude,
Alexis
P.S. In late October I started working for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy on a team that supports communities around the country to identify and adopt clean energy solutions that meet their energy needs. I am excited to be in a role that helps enable the essential, on-the-ground work at the community-level. Who knows? Maybe there will be an opportunity to support Etna, the Triboro through my new role!
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