Call me from the Road: Summer Wrapped and Fall underway!
Maybe it’s a summer habit, but I can’t help but think of GRP’s Strategic Planning and Name Change Process as a road trip:
It’s hard not to notice the parallels: creating a plan that includes a healthy expectation of detours, the collective understanding that it will take longer than Google Maps says it will; the phases of out loud ecstatic sing-a-longs with the windows down, and soft (sometimes difficult) silences with long stares out the windows.
The need to pull over to rest our eyes, exhausted, and the miracle of looking up at a sky full of stars! The importance of snack planning, and finding the perfect rest stop (or courage to improvise when there’s none to be had). Checking the tires, adjusting the mirrors, saying your own little prayer to whatever charm you’ve got on the dash, and taking a breath as you embark.
That said, if this process has been the road trip, than maybe COVID has been the weather? there’s no way to wait it out, or anticipate with total accuracy what will actually happen (not to mention everybody has an opinion about the weather, and even your most trusted meteorologist gets it wrong more then we’d like). We can’t let it stop us, but we have to acknowledge how it is constantly influencing us as we go from here to there.
As we learn about what it will take to get over and through this endemic, we’re having to accept this murkier, messier way out, as the backdrop for the major shifts at GRP. There’s no way to deny its impacts on our day to day, there’s no way we’d let it stop us.
Let’s gas ourselves a little on this journey: We are so practiced in supporting each other through change! There are few communities committed as we are to making room for the solutions that are not immediately obvious, or changing our minds when presented with new information .When we rely on our sense of community and care to mitigate risk, and navigate the unknowns at the speed of trust.
Two years in to a pandemic, there’s still no crew I’d rather U-Haul (or Beard Mobile) with. I’m grateful that for all the wobbles and worries of this time, we wrapped summer camp with more skill to adapt and hold complexity than any other community I know, and we’re more prepared than ever to hold space for who we’re becoming. We may not end up where we intended to go, but we will end up where we intended to be.
Summer 2021 Recap:
This season we leaned full force into this practices, reconnecting with digital workshops and hosting in person events for the first time in two years!
Of course our digital day was heartful as it was insightful; we marveled at how things that seemed impossible a year ago felt effortless, filled with the kind of curiosity and care that is bringing us through a pandemic.
In true Rock Camp spirit, our in-person Reunion day was filled with the Starfishing and Seltzer joy that we all needed. For all our years making camp magic together, it took some time to recognize one another...and it wasn’t just the masks! We have all undergone transformations during this time, body, heart and mind.
Returning to one of our beloved venues, Love City Brewing, we also got to collaborate with newer community partners like the Beard Mobile, Two Minds Press and West Philly Food Not Bombs.
They made an in-person pandemic reunion dreamy with delicious food, live screenprinting, and a COVID Safe High-Femme Stage that loves glitter even more than we do! Our Documentary partners, Big Picture Alliance, helped us capture the magic–stay tuned for part one of our Name Change Documentary!
As staff and our marvelous transition team wound down the summer and took some time away, we left feeling ready to dig in to the next phase of this work! We’re settling into a long season of shifting at GRP, and these processes are only the beginning. How lucky we are to be a community committed to staying curious, leaving lots of room to change our minds, and our strategies.
Where To? Announcing our Fall 2021 Programming
Fall will be focused on winding down our Name Change and Strategic Planning processes, and welcoming the next phase of implementation, incorporating what we’ve learned about ourselves and who we want to be, into our work. The gathering phase of our work this year, and comes to a close, and the process of mapping our next phase begins!
No one knows better than our Youth and Teen community members what GRP needs to move into the future, so we’re thrilled to be hosting our first-ever S.T.A.R. Summit – S.T.A.R. Stands for Super Transformative Advocates for Rad Space! This summit is a half-day retreat for Campers, YAC members and Alums to connect, share their ideas, and discuss what Youth Leadership should look like at GRP, the first of its kind!
We’re also hosting our last Namestorm session; a 90-minute word play session and game night focused on brainstorming ideas for GRP’s new name! There’s no need to have anything prepared, but if you want to make a case for a specific name, now's the time! September 12, from 5:30-7pm.
Lastly, Youth Action Council Apps will open to new and returning applicants on Oct. 1! We can’t wait to meet our next cohort!
We’ll also be out and out loud this fall, honoring the Philly Trans March, Indigenous People’s Day, and the spirit of this community we love.
Call me from the Road: GRP Staff Check-In this Monday, 9/20/21
GRP staff members will be on Instagram live TONIGHT at 3:15, to talk about what we loved about the summer, what we’re looking forward to this semester, and what you can expect through the end of the year from us!
Buckle in, GRP babes! As we turn the corner into fall, a broader new season comes into view for GRP; we can’t begin to know what the future holds for us, but we hope you’ll bring your insight and your gifts as we set the course together... and maybe a seltzer for the road.