It is with immense gratitude we say goodbye to Joy Garscadden as a staff member at Citizens Project. Joy has worked at Citizens Project as our Operations Manager for 6 years, and she will remain a very active volunteer with us.
Joy brings, well joy, to every space she occupies. She has been the constant source of sharp wit and humor through some dark times. She is our “Patron Saint of Useful Things,” always willing to roll up her sleeves to fix whatever is broken (literal and figurative). Mostly, she has a giant heart for Citizens Project and a commitment to our mission that is unparalleled. We joke that she’s leaving us to join the circus, which isn’t too far from the truth (but I’ll let her tell you about that). What we know for certain is that Joy will be deeply missed.
If you see Joy around, make sure to give her a huge thank you for all the work she has done to promote equity, inclusion, and separation of church and state in our community.
From Joy:
“In 2014, after a personal loss and serious reconsideration of my place in this world, I became part of the Citizens Project team as a volunteer and a few months later was asked to join the staff. The work we do means so much to our community. Being a part of that created a space to heal and grow and feel connected to something greater than one person can be and do alone.
Five Creating Community Breakfasts, almost a dozen voter guides, literally thousands upon thousands of get out the vote calls, postcards, texts, and parties, innumerable bills in the legislature, several lobbying days at the state capitol, five Pride Fests, and hundreds of community interactions have all brought me immeasurable joy, and such pride in the things we can accomplish when we come together to do the work. For now, it’s time for me to transition back to my original role as a volunteer and create an opportunity for someone else to grow in this space. I will still be helping a lot with major projects, supporter outreach, and some behind the scenes logistics, so don’t think I’m going anywhere anytime soon.
I am so grateful to every one of you for holding me to my integrity, challenging me, our city, and our state to do better by everyone, and for all of the wonderful time we’ve shared making a difference in the world together. Until we can hug each other again, I’ll see you online. And yes, we still need table captains for the Creating Community Day!”