“Work this year upended my life. It upended the life of my colleagues.”

Dear America 

Dear America, This year, work was constant chaos, torment, and distress. I felt (and still feel) unsteady. I never knew what was going to come next: Is my job safe? Which of my colleagues were fired? Will they come back? What work should I focus on? Who is my boss now? Will my whole division cease to exist? Where did everyone go? What projects do I have left? What can I work on? Why do I have to send another “what did you do this week” email? Who is in charge? Who do I trust? What should I believe? Is it over yet? Are they done torturing us? Is everyone else feeling this way? Am I okay? How can I be okay? How can I stay sane? Am I respected here? Am I valued? Am I in survival mode? How do I get out of this? Work this year upended my life. It upended the life of my colleagues. 

The year started as it typically does. Things felt normal until they didn’t. This person is leaving and that person is taking DRP and those folks are retiring. We lost so much institutional knowledge. We lost so much talent. We lost so much community. It continued to get worse than I ever thought imaginable. Things felt normal until they didn’t. 

Public service has always been my passion. I was thrilled to work for an agency and office committed to supporting people to gain access to safe and affordable housing. I was excited to learn about the regulations established to rectify harm done to our communities and protect people at present and in the future. To me, HUD’s mission is about creating a sense of safety for our families, friends, and neighbors. When we feel safe as human beings, we can thrive and therefore our society and our world can thrive too. To me, HUD represents safety. At its bare bones- finding housing. Creating a home- allows people to feel safe. Helping to support the American public to meet their basic need for housing is helping them feel safe. And if someone can’t feel safe, they can’t work or be productive. They can’t contribute to a better society. 

—A HUD Worker