Reflecting on ‘Reverence for Life,’ humility, and solidarity in educational programming
By Charlotte Emily Ryan
One year ago, I was recruiting volunteers, preparing materials, and purchasing supplies for a student organization I lead. I was excited for another year of bringing medical student volunteers to a local elementary school every Monday for after-school activities. I selected lesson plans featuring age-appropriate, interactive health and wellness education; drafted instructions for active games that our volunteers could enjoy alongside the students; and coordinated a group of 40 medical students eager to participate. All that remained was the final green light from our community partner, Eastern Michigan University’s Bright Futures program. Bright Futures is a 21st Century Community Learning Center program serving approximately 5,000 children across 22 schools serving economically disadvantaged communities in Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
Instead of receiving that green light, however, we encountered a stop sign – an email from the program explained that, because of a delay in anticipated federal funding, it had limited capacity to engage its usual community partners and volunteers.
In the summer of 2025, the U.S. Department of Education withheld more than $6 billion in federal funding for K–12 programs while reviewing whether the grants aligned with the administration’s priorities. The delay impacted funding for after-school programs, English-learner services, and other student-support services, including 21st Century Community Learning Centers such as Bright Futures. Although the funds were eventually released, the delay disrupted program planning and created significant uncertainty. Across the country, working-class families who relied on after-school programming for childcare were left unsure whether those services would remain available. Program staff also faced uncertainty about their jobs and their capacity to support students. Watching a federal decision ripple outward and disrupt a program I care deeply about highlighted the direct consequences policy decisions can have for communities.
On World Humanitarian Day, I am reminded that humanitarian work requires Albert Schweitzer’s “Reverence for Life” philosophy, but also solidarity and humility in equal measure. After acknowledging my disappointment and concern, I stepped back from my own goals and those of the student organization. Rather than trying to preserve our original plans, I focused on how we could respond to the needs of our community partner following the disruption.
With support from the Schweitzer Fellowship at Authority Health, I developed a project to gather perspectives from Bright Futures staff, families, and school personnel about current priorities for after-school activities. We will use what we learn to adapt our organization’s health lessons, games, and volunteer efforts to the needs identified by the community.
Humanitarian work rooted in genuine partnership recognizes that we have as much to learn from and alongside community partners as we have to contribute. Bright Futures has taught our volunteers and me invaluable lessons about collaboration, group facilitation, and the resilience of young people. Continuing to support the program through reliable volunteers, careful listening, and responsive programming is one way we can honor that relationship—and ensure that our desire to help begins not with our own assumptions, but with the community’s voice.
World Humanitarian Day occurs on August 19. Charlotte Emily Ryan is a student at the University of Michigan School of Medicine and an Albert Schweitzer Fellow at Authority Health.