DePaul Expressions Spring 2022

To End is to Begin

Throughout my time at DePaul, more things have come to an end than I can count. Employees have ended one role to move into a new and more challenging one. Children have ended their legal relationships with their families of origin to enter another family through adoption. Professionals in all sorts of industries have ended their careers as they know them to become sponsored care providers, welcoming an individual with disabilities into their home. Parents have worked to end their relationship with drugs and alcohol to begin to get their lives back. Dear friends have passed away, compelling us to carry out their legacy in new ways. The line between beginnings and endings has become quite blurred for me, leading me to believe that all of life is a series of transitions, that we are never not on our way to or from something. We are people of movement, always heading somewhere, and in the best of times, we move towards something that calls to us. Whether the voice comes from within us, or beyond us, we keep pursuing what is next, committing our lives to the work we are meant to do. There’s evidence of this woven into the stories you’ll read in issue of Expressions: Curtis and Beth and the Stewart family live fully into hope in the midst of loss and transitions. I write this note to you at a time of significant transition for DePaul and for me. I will finish my work here at the end of June, after more than nine years leading an organization and a mission that I love. I have made this decision from a place of deep and sustaining gratitude for this tribe: colleagues, the families we serve, our donors, and the communities that allow us to partner with them. I have learned and grown much in my time here, receiving my own share of hope and belonging. I leave different than I entered, and the impact of this work on my life is larger than I can measure. My sadness about missing the people and the beautiful work they will continue to do matches my excitement for what is to come—because as my time in this role comes to an end, so begins a new opportunity for DePaul to consider its future with new eyes. While I will not be a part of DePaul in the same way, I will always be a friend and supporter, rooting alongside each of you for its continued success.

Amanda Stanley