We recently connected with Sara Reyes and have shared our conversation below.
Sara, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I describe my world view as “hopeful” more than “optimistic.” Hope tends to be active and optimism tends to be passive. There’s a professor named Dr. Santos who articulated the difference recently in a way that I appreciated. She said, “Optimism says ‘things are going to be fine.’ Hope says ‘things are not fine, but I can see at least a few paths for things to get better.’”
Things aren’t fine right now — health, security, and opportunity are being actively denied to billions of people on this planet. To simply say ‘it will get better’ in the face of such enormous injustices is to underestimate the active cruelty that’s gone into perpetuating those injustices. It won’t get better, unless each one of us takes responsibility for some small part of making it better. And it absolutely can get better!
My hope for a better world comes from a lifetime of seeing transformative hope in action, throughout my career and my personal life. I’ve seen rural communities end their own chronic hunger when, for generations, they were told hunger was inevitable. I’ve seen someone who had been written off as a drug addict living on the street, heal and use their experiences to advocate for more comprehensive wellness programs for other addicts. My own Abuelita, frustrated by the foreign aid that was going into the pockets of local leaders rather than her community, worked to instilled hope rather than resignation in the women around her. Together, they created a crafting network, making and selling textile products in the cities to make their own income and rebuild their own communities. All of this was made possible by unyielding, exhausting, communally-minded hope.
To remain hopeful and to foster hope in those around you is hard work. I’m hopeful because I’m a problem-solver and so is everyone else in their own critical way. I’m hopeful because billions of people are suffering, which means there are billions of people who are deeply invested in the possibility of a better future. Together, we can build a world in which compassion is the norm and each person is granted the space to not just survive, but to thrive.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Every single day at SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, I get to connect meaningfully with my neighbors…and I get to invite others to do the same! To facilitate a space for Angelenos to connect with one another in life-changing ways is the absolute best part of my job. My hope would be that anyone who is feeling helpless, hopeless, or disconnected come to our programs at SELAH.
My professional background is primarily in community-led development. You could also call this de-colonized humanitarian aid. During my career, I’ve learned that the most sustainable, impactful solutions to the biggest challenges come from within a community. So when I moved to Los Angeles in 2018 and saw the scale of the homelessness crisis first hand, I knew that, in order to be part of this community, I needed to listen, learn, and extend my resources to my neighbors — time, money, energy…anything I had.
Coming from a community-led background, though, I had a hard to find a charity that prioritized the dignity and agency of neighbors experiencing homelessness. So many groups seemed to approach the issue of homelessness with pity rather than compassion. Then I found SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition.
I took my first volunteer training with SELAH at the end of 2019. Then, COVID lockdown hit. It was easy to feel helpless in the face of something so catastrophic. But SELAH volunteers kept going out on outreach, kept connecting with our most vulnerable neighbors as safely as possible. SELAH founders and volunteers organized vaccination drives and connected people with emergency housing. We kept providing connection and material aid to our unhoused neighbors when it felt like the whole world was locked inside.
That demonstration of power in this community changed the trajectory of my life. I went from being a SELAH volunteer, to a SELAH organizer (volunteer leader), to now being the first permanent Executive Director of the organization. SELAH is unique in its combined mission to build bonds of community, educate and grow civic will among housed Angelenos, while facilitating positive outcomes for unhoused Angelenos. We envision a community where every neighbor thrives…and I invite everyone to join that vision!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Curiosity, Adaptability, Vulnerability – The best experiences I’ve ever had, happened at the intersection of these qualities.
(Curiosity) I’m always in awe and wonder about the world around me — it’s infinite and the experiences within it are too.
(Adaptability) Taking on new experiences means learning new ways of being and new skills. Be flexible!
(Vulnerability) Learning new skills means you’re not going to know what you’re doing. Admitting that and finding safe spaces to ask for help makes it possible to learn and grow into new experiences. A friend likes to remind me that I’m not bad at something I’ve never done before…I’m just new to it.
When I feel like I’m in a rut or lost or hopeless, I turn to these qualities. I find something to be curious about and go from there.
If I had one piece of advice for someone early in their career, it would be to create spaces where they can exercise these characteristics — curiosity, adaptability, and vulnerability. If your curiosity is discouraged or everything is rigid or you aren’t safe to ask for help, do what you can to leave that space!
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
Resignation fueled by overwhelm is the #1 obstacle I’m facing in both my professional and personal life. It seems like so many of us are feeling overwhelmed and under supported. I can see exhaustion in everyone from my spouse to the people who attend and volunteer at our community-led homelessness support programs. Friends and funders alike have asked me if it’s really worth the resources to keep fighting for humane, sustainable solutions to things like homelessness when there are so many pressing issues. I feel resignation in myself sometimes, too.
To overcome this, I turn to mentors, to groups of empowered citizens, to my own commitment to creating community. I continue to create and engage in spaces for my neighbors to feel the power of what’s possible when they come together as a community and, through that, reenergize myself! People and the power within us is magic.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://selahnhc.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sara.reyrey/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradreyes/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
