Love in Action

Love is one of our core values, and likely the one that most shapes how we show up to do this work. Understandably, it doesn’t often appear in nonprofit organizational strategy. That makes sense - love is a word that can mean many things.

At One City, this is how we understand it: love is the lens through which we act. 

We’ve learned from many writers and thinkers who have explored love - people like Erich Fromm, bell hooks, Adrienne Maree Brown. Love is the way we see one another. Love is the recognition that we are connected. Love is intentionality.

Naming love at the core of our work means committing to more than just providing services - more than affordable housing units, meals, or outreach. It means creating spaces that support people’s agency, invite connection, and make room for humanity. We ask our volunteers, program participants and colleagues to help hold that responsibility with us.

This kind of love is rarely grand or sentimental. It is daily actions; hard conversations, clear boundaries, honesty, humility, and the ongoing work of caring for one another. When we get it right, those small choices accumulate. People tell us they can feel it in the way our staff and volunteers interact, and in the atmosphere of our spaces.

Here are some of the tangible ways love showed up at One City and among our community this week:

Monday: 

A resident shared the groceries they picked up from a local food bank with their housemates.

Tuesday:

Peterborough Vet Outreach provided care for 7 pets at the free animal wellness clinic. 

Wednesday: 

Volunteer nurses ran a foot care clinic at Trinity. Afterwards, volunteers painted people’s nails.

Thursday: 

Community members organized a memorial. Many people gathered to sing, share stories, and grieve the passing of a beloved individual.

Valentine's Day gives us a chance to celebrate love with partners, family and friends. It also reminds us that love is a choice. A way of showing up for one another, every day, in  community. 

How are you choosing to love today?

Tammy, Acting Executive Director