Why We’re Launching a Strategic Plan—Even Now
Apr 9, 2025
Launching a Strategic Plan right now feels, frankly, a little absurd. I’ve been sitting in the tension of this moment, in the murky back-and-forth of whether it even makes sense. How do you launch a 3-year strategic plan given the current realities in America? With the precarity of funding, the erosion of core values, the uncertainty pressing in from all sides?
And yet—it feels like the next right step.
Why? Because I keep returning to the three pillars of our plan. I keep looking at them and thinking:
Yes. These are still right.
They still make sense. Even when the future feels unpredictable, our three pillars—Maximizing Our Impact, Enhancing Community Connections, and Catalyzing Staff Potential—still hold.
They will make sense one year from now, two years from now, three years from now.
Because we will continue to strive for impact—real, measurable, life-changing impact. We will always want to help our participants heal more fully, more deeply, more sustainably. And we’ll continue to pursue not just individual transformation, but community and systems-level change—regardless of who is in power or what orders are handed down.
We will continue to build connection.
We’ll show up in partnership. We’ll lean into the expertise of others.
We’ll lead when it makes sense, and follow humbly when it doesn’t.
If I’ve learned anything in over five years as CEO of RS EDEN, it’s that we cannot—and should not—be an island. We are stronger in community.
And we will continue to catalyze staff potential.
Our staff are essential—whether the world is in crisis or not.
They are the ones holding the fabric of community together.
They are the facilitators of growth and healing, the guides—the sherpas—on each participant’s journey toward wellness.
If our staff are not confident, not competent, not paid fairly, not supported, not cared for—we cannot live out our mission.
So yes, at times it has felt ridiculous to launch a plan in the midst of chaos.
But I’ve come to believe more deeply than ever: we need a plan.
We need a roadmap to stay the course.
We need to resist the pull to spin in crisis mode, to get caught up in distraction and disorientation.
That’s the game being played—and we refuse to participate.
We are more focused than that.
We are more grounded than that.
We are more committed to our mission than ever.
Because the desire to support others, to heal harm, to build belonging and dignity—that’s far more compelling than the noise.
We’re not here to follow chaos.
We’re here to build something that lasts.
Support our work - Give the gift of hope.
Support the work of RS EDEN through a tax-deductible contribution. Monthly, one-time, annual, and legacy gifts all support our capacity to assist to build new beginnings.
give