By Alegra Roybal

This place is different. I started my first day at CSVANW on August 10^th, 2018 when the morning air was still warm and schools buses started running. I knew this place was different when I sat down for my first team meeting and we started with body stretches. Our Executive Director noted that this work is difficult and we can often become disconnected from our bodies, so anything we can do to reconnect with ourselves is important.

Wow, right? I have been working at non-profits since I was 16, and I have never experienced an environment like this!

This place is different. Sage burns in the corner, some folks sitting on the floor with their laptops, others are working in their offices. Some are out in the community or on flights to various conferences to represent our indigenous communities.

This place is different. I am whisked to each of my new coworkers and they tell me what they do. I didn’t receive their job descriptions, I instead learned about the various frameworks they work in. Indigenous. Trauma-informed. Healing engaged. Ecofeminism. Of course, they go to meetings, do presentations, write grants etc., but that wasn’t what they shared with me. They shared their ideas for the future and the different ways they value their communities.

This place is different.

      

At 4:30 pm I packed up my purse and said good-bye and thank you to everyone for my first day. I walked downstairs into the August heat and started on my 20-minute drive home. I spent my drive reflecting on the day. During the team meeting, we all stated what we were working on and how the team could best support us. We shared meaningful quotes; we shared our goals and what we each brought to the table. I learned from each of my coworkers what drives them and what this work means to them. When I got home I felt relief that I had been welcomed into the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.

This place is different.