Our meeting with the Mayor didn’t go the way we hoped.

We didn’t receive the funding for Nimbin Youth 😢

I let myself feel the disappointment of that ~ not because of ego or pride, but because I know what that funding could have meant for our young people.

It wasn’t a “no” to the need. It was a “not here, not yet”.

What surprised me was the meeting itself. The Mayor showed up. He listened. He saw our work. He named it as important. He said he would help us as much as he can.

I know how familiar those words are in his position, yet they seemed to carry sincerity. They didn’t solve everything, but they offered hope and I’m allowing myself to accept that. I guess that matters more than a line item on a budget, even if it doesn’t pay the bills.

I’m learning that advocacy isn’t a single moment ~ it’s like a long journey. Sometimes you’re waved through, sometimes you’re asked to wait and sometimes you’re told to knock on a different door. Our meeting was a redirection, not a dead end.

We’re still here.

The doors are still open.

The young people still come.

And as tired as I am, I know this much ~ we don’t stop because one system isn’t ready. We keep going until it is ♡

Love Rain xo