The People Behind the Work: Why Community Partners Matter

When I came up with the Hang Haven concept, my goal was to create a space where teens could speak candidly about the real things that impact our lives. I realized that if we could start having these conversations with a systems thinking mindset, they could feel less like a debate someone wins or loses. We could instead dig into an issue, ask questions, and think about all the different things that might be causing it or making it harder to solve.

Then one night last year, I was coming home from basketball training, and I saw a queue of people waiting outside the building next to where I trained. I had seen the building before but never really took notice of it so I looked it up on my phone. It was Food for Others, a local food bank.

I remember looking over and seeing families waiting in line for food while kids were leaving basketball practice and getting into their Range Rovers just a few feet away. It seemed crazy to me that these two things were happening right next to each other, especially in Fairfax County, one of the wealthiest counties in the country. I started to wonder how that was possible. If we live in an area with so much wealth and opportunity, why are so many families still struggling just to afford food? And what else might be happening in someone's life that leads them to need a food bank in the first place?

Those questions made me start thinking differently about Hang Haven. It was not enough to have a space to talk about our societal issues without understanding the organizations in our community taking action to try and fix them. And after researching Food for Others I realized that there were people and organizations who understood what was shaping these problems. I wanted to learn more. Organizations like Food for Others are working with families experiencing food insecurity every day. What were they seeing that I wasn't? What did they understand about the problem that I would never learn just by reading about it?

That realization led Hang Haven to partner with two incredible organizations that are doing the work on the ground. Two local organizations are making a real difference in our community by supporting young people, families and neighbors in need. I am proud that Hang Have is able to highlight their missions and encourage our community to learn, engage and support their work. Food for Others works with families experiencing food insecurity throughout Northern Virginia. Second Story works with young people and families facing challenges that can include housing instability, family crises, and homelessness. The more I learned about their work, the more questions I had.

Food insecurity isn't necessarily just about whether someone has enough food. Housing instability isn't necessarily just about whether someone has a place to live. There can be other things happening at the same time involving income, transportation, childcare, mental health, or simply knowing where to go for help. One problem can also make another problem worse.

That is the part I wanted to understand better. I took the opportunity to talk directly with leaders from Food for Others and Second Story and learn from their experiences. I needed to understand what teenagers like myself tend to misinterpret about these topics. What are they seeing in Northern Virginia that the rest of us might not notice? Most importantly, what should young people know and appreciate before we decide how we want to help.

I am starting to realize that understanding a system isn't just about identifying all of its different parts. We also have to listen to the people who experience those systems and the people who work within them every day.

Stay tuned for my deep dive with both leaders and I'll share those conversations here on Hang Haven. My hope is I can stop wondering and start listening to the experts on the ground and how we can collectively make a difference.