Before we ring in 2025, before we face a new presidency and new world order, I want to share a rare morsel of certainty: Epicenter NYC is well fortified to meet this moment.
And that’s because of you. Help us close out 2024 with strength, and grow our resources and keep doing good by giving here.
Stay with me.
I am clinging to optimism ahead of the uncertainty and unrest over what’s to come because the work we’ve executed every year since 2020 is proof of the impact we have on our neighbors, small businesses and local artists.
- We embrace change, vulnerability and transparency, and are nimble in our efforts to assist our neighbors because we were founded in the middle of a global pandemic.
- We live and work in the diverse neighborhoods hardest hit by Covid, which exposed a slew of inequities that were decades, even centuries, in the making. This has positioned us to engage more than 20,000 hard-to-reach neighbors in priority areas, whether one by one, or hundreds at a time.
- We are trusted. I spent 30+ years in mainstream media where teams asked why audiences didn’t trust us, yet it took me much less time through my work at Epicenter to answer. You help people once and they’ll call you again and again. That action, of turning to us, seeking us out, represents trust. We hold your trust sacred and are so grateful for it.
- We have a sound business model. Sure, we rely on you –– and we also bring in revenue from a mix of advertising, events, sponsorships, philanthropy, memberships, and government contracts that count on Epicenter to inform neighbors about opportunities and resources.
What we hear, what we are asked and how we show up
- Back when we launched, I remember publishing a plea that a Jackson Heights food pantry urgently needed larger diapers, and the volunteer in charge reported receiving six boxes from our readers. “Is that good?” I asked naively. She said: “Six more than we had before!”
- Our community manager Daniel Laplaza reminds me that needs might be simple–a woman asked him for a printout of election information, for example–and that the path to earning trust and respect is to just be responsive.
- What started as a weekly artist feature plus a stipend to support this community during Covid has now grown into a network and a series of exhibitions in NYC and beyond. I love that we can continue doing this; it’s a symbol of valuing artists’ contributions to our news outlet, our community and New York City. We will need their joy and beauty in the days ahead.
- An entrepreneur pivoted her business model after attending one of our events on how success and scale are not mutually exclusive. Another volunteer left her corporate job and embarked on a career in public health. We center purposeful work, small businesses and entrepreneurs, and create meaningful connections.
- We help parents navigate high school admissions, lotteries, and IEP meetings. The emails and feedback we receive following our webinars and after we publish our digital guides and social videos are what makes this work and your support all worth it.
- We launched a nonprofit to better serve our numerous charitable efforts. Won’t you please support our good work and make a tax-deductible donation today?
There’s a lot of consternation over the media’s role in sustaining (and ruining) our democracy, and whether anybody is actually even listening or responding. But I’m feeling good about how Epicenter has spent the last few years–and how we plan to spend the years ahead. We are bucking the doom-and-gloom scenarios of traditional media.
If you look at our coverage of housing, you will see it’s a mix of policy information and news you can actually use. We pride ourselves on providing stories that help or inspire audiences to act in some way.
We keep it real. This is going to matter so much amid confusing spectacles of news conferences in the days to come.
We deliver actionable coverage in multiple formats, reported and produced by our talented team, and co-produced with AI.
I am so proud that our team– majority women, majority people of color– encompasses the trifecta of journalism, product and technology, as well as diversified revenue generation. I am also proud that journalism students continue to accept offers to intern with us.
All of this speaks to what makes us trusted and effective: we try to create change one life at a time.
We’re here for you. Thank you for being there for us. Have a happy holiday season.
