Alongside Christmas and the New Year holidays, my family has long celebrated the Winter Solstice. The Solstice marks the period of time in the winter when the sun makes its long turn on the horizon back toward the middle of the sky and brings increasing daylight with it. Amongst the chaos and hubbub that is the winter holiday season, I find a certain kind of tranquility in this rhythm of nature that is so reliable and predictable.
A quote from the venerable Rachel Carson aptly captures the power of this yearly ritual:
“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
I’ve realized that our work at CCMU follows similar rhythmic patterns, and in the quiet space of the winter season, we take time to reflect on the past year and prepare for the next. We know that with each year there will be new projects, new ideas, and new challenges, but like the passing of the seasons, our mission will remain constant.
At our recent staff retreat, we reflected on the successes and milestones from a banner year for our organization, including:
- Celebrating 15 years as an organization
- Launching a new brand, logo, and website
- Helping develop and implement policies that are making a difference for Colorado’s families, including the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange and the expansion of Medicaid for adults without dependent children
- Educating people on major health issues facing the medically underserved
- Supporting community leaders across the state working to increase access to care, improve local health care systems, and start new conversations around health
We’re excited to continue our work in the coming year. We’ll continue to influence policy and support community-led initiatives aimed at driving innovation to improve health insurance coverage, health care access, and community education within local and state health care systems.
As the sun makes its journey back across the sky, we look forward to making our way back to the Capitol and back out to Colorado’s communities. 2013 is shaping up to be a big year, filled with even more communities in action, policy and regulatory changes, and productive dialogues to address the needs of the underserved and those serving the underserved. Together, we’ll all be part of a greater transformation in the commitment and public will to improve the health of all Coloradans. Thanks for joining us in this journey!
