inside Brushwood
The Work is Love: Showing Love to Our Community Programs Team
By Ashley Cullen-Williams
I have to admit something—teamwork hasn’t always been my thing. In the past, I didn’t have strong teams around me. I didn’t experience collaboration as something life-giving. If I’m honest, I resisted it. I thought it slowed things down. I thought it made things messy. I thought it required more energy than it returned.
Then I came to Brushwood.
And something changed.
Walking the trails, watching the trees through the seasons, has changed how I understand connection.
A forest does not rush its becoming. It honors cycles.
There is a season for planting, a season for growth, a season for shedding, and a season for stillness. Still beneath every visible change, the roots remain intertwined. Nutrients are shared. Protection is offered. The system sustains itself because it is connected.
No tree thrives alone.
That is what I’ve witnessed in our Community Programs staff.
Like winter roots below frozen ground, much of their work happens unseen—planning, adapting, checking in, preparing, supporting one another when the days feel long. In spring, their ideas bloom into programs that welcome young people and families to explore creativity. In summer, they hold space for growth and joy outdoors. In fall, they harvest lessons learned and plant seeds for what’s next.
There is a rhythm to it.
A trust in the process.
A willingness to show up for each season without ego.
And this feels like Brushwood’s season.
A season to anchor in our mission.
A season to intervene when the community needs call us forward.
A season to convene partners and neighbors around a mutual purpose.
A season to model what healing, justice, and environmental connection can look like in practice.
A season to support—steadily, consistently, with care.
Our Community Programs staff embody this season. They are rooted enough to anchor. Courageous enough to intervene. Open enough to convene. Clear enough to model. Steady enough to support.
They have changed my understanding of teamwork. Healthy collaboration does not drain you—it fortifies you. It makes you more resilient in harsh climates. It assures that when one branch bends, the forest still stands.
This February, as we talk about love, I’m thinking about love as commitment. Love as consistency. Love as collective flourishing.
To our Community Programs staff: Abbey, Jess K, Jess R, and Eddie, thank you for being interconnected. Thank you for capturing our story; committing to people; creating transformative experiences; and always being curious with care!
Thank you for tending the soil even when no one is watching.
Thank you for helping this community not only survive its seasons but flourish through them.
As bell hooks reminds us, “Love is an action, never simply a feeling.”
And your work is love in action.
