Whitney/Strong Family,
The past three years have been a whirlwind. First, with my miraculous survival and recovery. Second, with the building of Whitney/Strong. While I look back on all that we have been able to accomplish together with great pride, I know that our story is just beginning.
I am proud, but I will never be too proud when the number of shootings and firearm deaths in America continue to climb. Numbers drive me, and gun violence statistics over the last two years have been abysmal for our country. The overall firearm death rate in the U.S. reached the highest level ever recorded in 2020, claiming the lives of more than 45,000 Americans¹. This number is a 14% increase over 2019, and is largely driven by an increase in homicides of nearly 5,000. There is a reason 2020 was deemed the most violent year in decades by the Washington Post.
2021 data is not yet final, but initial results show the raw number of firearm deaths as comparable.
We have political and cultural factors that make progress on reducing gun violence in America seem impossible. It is easy to believe that change will never come. I get it, but I don’t buy it.
You may wonder how I can have hope for a future with less gun violence in the face of these challenges. To truly answer that question I would need more time than you can spend reading this email. So simply put, I have hope because of gratitude, your support, and strategy. Let me share with you why I have hope for 2022.
Gratitude
I have a well filled with gratitude. I often imagine it is even too deep for me to see the bottom of it. I will keep returning to the well for the sustenance I need to keep going. My New Years’ wish is for you to find your own well, and visit it often for the energy you need to make a difference in the lives of others.
Support
In the last three years of building Whitney/Strong we have seen our supporter network across Ohio and Kentucky increase to 5,000+. This is a giant leap from our early days in late 2018 as we celebrated reaching 100 followers on social media!
I could list many examples of your loyal support. Helping us meet our fundraising goal to unlock a $50,000 grant from the Gannett Foundation. Generously participating in Cincinnati Gives to ensure we secured first place, and an additional $12,000 in prize dollars. I doubt you recognize what these gestures mean to me and the Whitney/Strong team. Your support is not only the vehicle to ensure a future with less gun violence, it is a steady message of encouragement to our small and mighty team.
Strategy
We talk a lot about strategy at Whitney/Strong and I want you to be a part of those conversations. The root causes of gun violence are vast: poverty, under-resourced public services, lack of opportunity and perceptions of hopelessness, and easy access to firearms by high-risk people just to name a few. Whitney/Strong alone will never be able to tackle all of them.
From the very beginning we have set a strategy that prioritizes what we have in common, not our differences. Our carefully-considered solutions are not only rooted in common ground, they are evidence-based. We understand that when progress is limited, we must only spend energy on solutions that will work.
We know the importance of setting short- and long-term goals. Right now, we are focused on training as many people as possible on ways they can reduce gun violence and funding research so we are better prepared to advocate for policy change in the future. In the long term, we will continue to build a coalition of elected officials willing to embrace bipartisan legislation to reduce gun violence. Legislative change will take time, but it will be worth it.
When you understand that we are simultaneously creating change now, and greasing the political wheels for it in the future, hope is much easier to come by.
There is strong evidence for hope with Whitney/Strong.
Thank you for being a part of our story. 2022 is going to be a big year and I am happy to kick it off alongside you! I encourage you to follow along with our work through email and social media. Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing ways that you can get involved with this important work. We need your help to continue creating change.
With you by our side, we enter 2022 with renewed energy and hope for a future with less gun violence.
Gratefully,
Whitney
¹Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).