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Live United by Erin Haag

On a bright afternoon this week, I stood in the parking lot of the office with my little boy — my little boy who’s not so little anymore, but still has that innate curiosity with a thousand questions. He asks me all the questions, not thinking that his mother doesn’t know what’s on the roof, or how high a crane can go or what the different types of cranes there are. We were there by his request: He had been invited by the landlord to come and watch the crane put the new air conditioning and heating units on the roof.

We watched one side of the building, and then went inside for some lunch and popsicles. We came back out when they did our side of the building. My not-so-little boy figured out that he could say hello to Rosemary’s son, who he’s good friends with, via the security cameras. “Hey E! Look what’s happening here!” We let Rosemary know to check the camera and show her son the custom-made message for him, with the shadow of the crane sweeping across the yard. The wonders of technology keeping a long-distance friendship alive.

It’s a busy but unusual week for our office. Thursday, the office was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. We made the decision to close the pantry on Wednesday, due to the possibility of a giant crane, and the challenges of having workers on the roof above our offices. It was absolutely the right call — I attempted one meeting, and quickly learned how loud having someone walking around up there is. Having a different week didn’t really make me less busy though. I was still doing my summertime mom duties, getting my kid to his camp for the week, stopping into the library and hanging out on the ball field in the evenings. The rest of the week was devoted to working on loose ends, catching up on paperwork and starting to plan.

I joined a steering team for an event that will be happening later this fall. There’ll be plenty of stories about that later. In this meeting, some data was referenced, and it caught my attention. So I went digging. I found a wealth of data regarding how Americans feel about polarizing topics. I watched videos and read through presentations and read studies. Much of it I’ve heard before, in different forms through the years, but what struck me this week is how the numbers have changed. I wasn’t too terribly surprised, but with the noise of the world the last few years — well, it was a good reminder.

United Way of Freeborn County is and will always be nonpartisan. We’re focused on policies, working with diverse stakeholders, and work closely with folks involved across the political spectrum. Many times this is misunderstood, because we are advocates: We advocate for policies that are in the community’s best interests. A great example of that is food insecurity. When members of our community are facing food insecurity, we are advocates of solving that issue. Ultimately, food insecurity is a nonpartisan issue.

Key pieces of legislation have traditionally been supported on both sides of the party line — perhaps for different reasons. It’s OK to have different rationales for supporting legislation, as long as the end goal is met: reducing hunger.

It’s easy to say it’s getting harder and harder though. I think that’s true, but I’d also remind myself that there have been times when the country was in great unrest and yet came out to better days. I often compared it to the weather: Everyone thinks that is an unusually cold winter or hot summer and it’s actually not. (Short term — I’m not talking about the larger patterns that do show those changes.)

Dr. Frank Luntz is an experienced pollster best known for his work with the Republican Party. In early 2024 he presented “The Language of Respect” to the National Governor’s Association as part of the Disagree Better initiative. I’ve been reading quite a bit of his work this week, and so much of it resonates with me.

Dr. Luntz’s polling finds that 62% of Americans believe there is more that divides us than unites us. 62%. Perhaps it’s because the word, “unites’ is used, with uniting people being at the heart of what I do. For me, it’s a staggering number, one that illustrates how far the divide is. I’d be curious what a local poll would show. How would this exact poll be represented in Albert Lea, in Clarks Grove, in Alden, in Freeborn County?

There’s a lot of anger in our community right now. A lot of anger about the Juneteenth holiday and the Pride Event this weekend. There are people pulling to the side of the road and yelling at others that are voicing their belief. There is frustration, and name calling and snark. A few years ago, a board member suggested a potential recruit. I like this person. I’ve chatted with him, enjoy his animal stories and respect much of what he does. I also struggle with this person, as I see them on social media and they’re quick to condemn what someone says, because they’re with the “other party,” and they must have been “brainwashed.” Over the years, I’ve seen persistent name calling. I explained to my board member that I would not support this person being on our board, because we need someone who can engage in respectful conversations for differences of opinion.

I wouldn’t be who I am, in the work that I do and the writer that I am if I didn’t temper these words with a message of hope. According to More In Common, a nonpartisan political research nonprofit, “Divided” is the most commonly chosen word to describe America today, selected by a majority of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

Conversely, when describing their ideal future for America, “united” is the top desired quality, again without variation across party lines.” Well how about that? United. The good news is that I think we can get there. I think that organizations are increasingly standing up for what they believe in: Choose civility. Disagree better. Respectful communication. Listen first.

I’m not all talk and no action. That planning committee? Let’s bring people together who are willing to learn and engage in civil discourse, to learn about each other and to maybe walk away with a new perspective. Stay tuned in my weekly articles and visit our website at unitedwayfc.org to stay up to date on our plans for demonstrating that United is The Way. Yes, I’m just tickled that our current tagline is also reflected in those data points!

Erin Haag is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.