Celebrating a Community of Belonging

By Carly Grutel

As naturally social beings, humans instinctively want to belong. Belonging to a community can help us develop a sense of purpose and provide an opportunity for a collective identity. By adopting belonging as one of our organization’s core values, we strive to be proactive and intentional about creating equitable opportunities in our community. Lincoln’s annual Welcoming Week was a recent example of our community coming together to celebrate belonging.

Since 2012, Welcoming Week has been celebrated during a week in September in communities across the country, including ours. During this week organizations and communities bring together neighbors of all backgrounds to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity.

Lincoln’s Welcoming Week in 2022 saw planning efforts grow by bringing in city partnerships for the first time and holding three very successful Welcoming Week events. In 2023, the community set a record of 23 Lincoln Welcoming Week events, including community festivals, citizenship ceremonies and celebrations, informational and community-building events, art exhibitions, voter registration, and more. Local nonprofits, businesses, museums, and the city offered engaging and unique experiences to the community. As a community, we celebrated music, culture, food, and talents of newcomers from myriad countries who now call Lincoln home.

The Lincoln Community Foundation was a proud sponsor of this year’s Welcoming Week. In addition to being a sponsor, LCF shared the week’s line-up of activities with our staff so they could attend. Lincoln Unites! kicked off the festivities at the Auld Pavillion on Friday, September 8th with storytelling, music, and a citizenship ceremony. It was inspiring to hear stories from an array of speakers about citizenship, community and welcoming. You could feel the whirlwind of emotions by family members, friends, and neighbors as 25 immigrants gained citizenship.  

During the ECHO Collective New Americans Art Show, I was drawn to a piece that depicted the Lincoln skyline. Founder & Executive Director of ECHO Collective, Kelly Ross shared more about the piece.

“The artist asked me if people would know what this was,” she reflected. “I said, of course, people in Lincoln know their skyline.”  

I was particularly struck by this sentiment. Whenever I see the Capitol, especially upon returning from traveling, I get an overwhelming sense of gratitude to call Lincoln my home. What a beautiful, shared experience for us to have as Lincolnites. No matter where you might be from originally, once you live in Lincoln – when you see that skyline appear on the horizon it feels like home.  

I continued to reflect on this idea of what it means to belong in our community, especially for newcomers. How incredible is it that this talented artist is creating meaningful art that showcases Lincoln, a new home to her? I think about her connection to ECHO Collective and how it has given her a positive experience in Lincoln, allowing her to really embrace a sense of belonging.  

Lincoln embraces community. We show up for each other. This was on full display at all the activities and events during Welcoming Week.  

To learn more about Lincoln Welcoming Week and the New Americans Task Force efforts visit Lincoln/Lancaster County Welcoming & Belonging.