I want to remind you that you do have the power to make many choices for yourself and in your own life.  I say this knowing that having control over our choices is the thing that we all desire the most.

In light of choices that are being made for us, I want to say that I’m sorry you feel like you don’t have the choice to safely send your kids to school. I’m sorry you feel like you don’t have the choice of which doctor to go to because your insurance won’t cover you. I’m sorry you don’t have the choice of what to do with your body if you’re a woman. I’m sorry if you are a nonbinary or trans person that has also had your choice about your body taken away. I’m sorry if you made one mistake and now you are sitting behind bars for years especially if you are a person of color. I’m sorry for the choices this country has made and for how it is impacting you. I’m sorry that you feel scared, alone, disempowered. I’m sorry that our answer is to give you more drugs and tell you to make better choices when you can’t even see what choices are in front of you. I’m sorry the world is so unfair to you and I’m sorry that there is so much pain in your life, and that the choices of the people who have the power are making your life even more painful. I’m sorry I can’t change this for you and all that I can do is hold space for you through your suffering, which I commit to continue doing every day.  I don’t always feel like I have the power either, even as a very empowered person.

All that I can do is offer you a safe space and a welcoming space and a space of support for you to make the choices that are right for you. I can offer you a space of no judgment regardless of your decisions, your religion, your race, your sexual orientation, your political beliefs, your gender. I commit to doing that for you for as long as I possibly can, and I commit to continue to give you access to the services that I know you need to the best of my ability, regardless of the decisions that are made by the people who have more power than either of us do. I will continue to be here for you. That is my promise.

Holly Jedlicka, MSW, LISW-S