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June 16, 2025
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Greetings and salutations, dear subscribers,
I appreciate you being here engaging in this work and these words.
You know, dear subby, a few years ago when I started The Wind Down, I was fortunate enough to be invited to a small but global community of solopreneurs working on challenging social and climate issues. In the community gatherings and on our online platform, I was able to vulnerably share my wishes, fears, challenges, successes, and eke out concrete steps towards larger goals. Over time that group grew and grew and unfortunately stopped feeling so intimate. I tried to find a way to make it still work, but it didn't and I left.
And so it was that last week, I celebrated a few exciting milestones in my work, but when I looked around there was no crew to share it with. I told my friends, of course, but it wasn't the same as being in it with a group of people who've been down in the muck with you. Having that crew matters, and I am definitely looking for a new one. If you have your people, hold them tight; if you don't, I encourage you to try to find them!
Here are this week's links:
1) Birthday parties for troubled youth group to end
Founded in 2013, Box Of Balloons is a volunteer-run organization that provides birthday parties to children who are living in homeless shelters, foster care system, or domestic abuse shelters. Their mission is to ensure that every child is celebrated regardless of family circumstances.
Despite having grown to include chapters across 20 states, they ultimately found that the nonprofit model of funding was not working.
Though its last day will be June 30th, they are committed to filling any requests that come in before that date.
2) Voter registration org checks out
Voter Formation Project was started by a former Facebook employee in the wake of the 2020 presidential election as an effort to register and mobilize new and infrequent voters of color. It marked its final day on June 1st. While the founder provided no clear statement about the shut down, the overall climate of hostility to diversity efforts as well as voter registration surely played their parts.
3) Indian co-op credit union ordered to wrap up operations
Shri Sairam Urban Multistate Cooperative Credit Society in India's populous Maharashtra state has been censured by the government and order to wind up. This action follows several attempts by regulators to investigate credible claims of financial impropriety.
This closure is part of a recent spate in the Indian cooperative banking world, and is drawing attention to the need for those cooperative institutions to provide greater transparency to depositors and adhere to cooperative principles
4) Sad news from a happy news only newspaper
The Beacon was a monthly local newspaper from Concord, New Hampshire that only reported on nice news --- no crime, war, or otherwise bad news. After 22 years of operating on a lean budget of mostly donations and subscriptions, they mailed out their last issue on June 1st.
5) Catholic refugee resettlement work halts
Catholic Charities Community and Family Services , a Rochester, NY nonprofit has ended its refugee resettlement program due to government cuts and travel bans.
Despite success and previous bipartisan support, the group could not overcome the current political headwinds. Catholic Charities will, however, continue to provide robust services to area refugees.
7) Food distributors shutter, imperil Boston's neediest
"We're seeing just as many people — up to a third of the population here in Massachusetts — facing food insecurity, but steadily less food and less money going into the overall food security ecosystem," This Axios article highlights the potentially devastating impact of three Massachusetts food distributors closing nearly at once.
8) Spend Now or Forever?: Rethinking The Philanthropy Timeline
"Should philanthropy act with urgency and spend down its resources, or is there merit in building giving strategies that last forever?" In this thoughtful essay, Catherine Brooks, CEO of Equitable Philanthropy challenges foundations to be thoughtful about their timelines.
Upcoming Events
June 19, 2025 - Projects End, Data Lives (online)
For this month's gathering of the Practices of Composting and Hospicing community of practice, we'll be joined by our friends from Distributed Press. They'll be sharing how and why they help preserve and restore websites lost to errors or negligence. Join us!
October 15, 2025 - Deceleration Assembly - Birmingham, UK
Hosted by The Decelerator, Deceleration Assembly is a dedicated space for people actively working through endings and big changes in civil society. All skills and capacities have a role to play in better endings. Whether you're a freelancer, consultant, network manager, infrastructure staffer, or someone holding support roles across the sector, this gathering is for you. (tickets here - I'll be there. Join us!!)
Yours in the end,
Camille
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Closing Remarks is brought to you by The Wind Down, a consultancy for exploring, building, designing, and delivering better endings for mission-driven projects and organizations, and also raising closure consciousness. If you're enjoying it, please support my work.
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