MLK Day Message From Our President and CEO: Building Beloved Community Through Connection

Loneliness Is a Justice Issue: How We Honor Dr. King through Belonging, Connection, and Voice 

By Loria Yeadon, President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Seattle 

Each January, we return to a familiar question: What does Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy require of us now? 

Dr. King’s vision of a Beloved Community is not abstract or symbolic. His powerful vision is deeply practical and envisioned a society where every person is valued, where justice is lived—not merely promised—and where love shows up through shared vision and responsibility.   To achieve this vision, we must confront what divides us and pulls people apart. One of the most pervasive and least acknowledged threats to the Beloved Community today is the crisis of loneliness.

Recently, while visiting Montgomery, Alabama—the birthplace of the modern Civil Rights Movement—I was reminded that the movement was sustained not only by courage, but by connection. People gathered in churches, schools, and homes. They organized, prayed, planned, and stood together. The Beloved Community was built through connections and relationships. When those ties fray, people suffer—often quietly and alone. 

Loneliness is often framed as a personal issue. In reality, loneliness and social isolation are community conditions. They grow when housing becomes unstable, when costs rise faster than wages, when aging happens without support, and when trusted gathering places disappear. They deepen when systems fail to provide access to behavioral health care, childcare, transportation, and culturally responsive programs and services. Disconnection and isolation are predictable outcomes of disinvestment, disparate outcomes, and inequity. 

Dr. King warned us that injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere. Loneliness is part of that threat. When people are isolated, justice cannot “run down like waters.” Social connection binds us and allows opportunity, safety, and dignity to  be a core part of our human experience. 

Dr. King’s vision for justice also centered on a thriving democracy—one in which everyone has a voice. In Montgomery, sustained organizing and collective action led to desegregation, voting rights, and civil rights protections. The movement succeeded because people stood together and used their voices to shape the future they believed in. 

Voting remains our most sacred and powerful way to participate in our democracy and have voice in our community. When barriers to voting persist—whether through restrictive policies, misinformation, confusion, or disinvestment—people are cut off from decision-making and pushed further to the margins. Disenfranchisement is another form of disconnection, leaving individuals and communities unheard and excluded from shaping the systems that govern their lives. 

The vision for a Beloved Community calls us to build conditions where dignity can be lived daily, which requires a human infrastructure of belonging: the everyday relationships and spaces that help people build and maintain connection. When people feel connected, everything becomes more possible—learning, working, parenting, healing, aging, and participating in civic life. 

For 150 years, the YMCA of Greater Seattle has been part of that vital human infrastructure. We are a community connector—a place where people can show up as they are, build relationships across generations and differences, and be part of something larger than themselves. 

The Y's role centering community has long been part of our identity. In 1966, when Seattle families and educators boycotted public schools to demand desegregation, the YMCA opened a Freedom School for Black students. Under the leadership of Roberta Byrd Barr, the Y provided space for learning, safety, and dignity when public systems fell short.  The Y's stand for all in community was a tangible expression of Dr. King’s values: institutions changing their practices for a better us and communities refusing to isolate and leave any child behind.

We see the same truth today. Through the YMCA of Greater Seattle's Social Impact Center,   young people experiencing homelessness are offered supports they need to find safety, stability, and connection. They find a place and a team that knows their name. At Arcadia, our drop-in shelter in Auburn, youth and young adults find stability and connection—supports to stay in school, a trusted adult to talk with, and help navigating what comes next. Belonging is often the difference between giving up and moving forward. 

But belonging cannot be separated from the structures that make it possible. Dr. King challenged us to build systems worthy of our ideals. When housing is unstable, when behavioral health needs go unmet, or when violence disrupts daily life, people retreat and communities fracture. Strengthening connection means strengthening the human infrastructure of care that keeps people anchored — and investing in prevention so crisis is not the only doorway to support. 

This work must be equity-centered and for all. Progress is not inevitable; it is pursued. Belonging is only real when it is shared. 

Dr. King’s legacy calls us not only to reflect, but to act. This MLK Day, we invite you to be part of the work of building a beloved community—by showing up for one another, strengthening the institutions that foster connection, and protecting all voices that are vital to strengthening our democracy. Check your voter registration and if you are not registered to vote, do so today.  And as we prepare for 2026 election season, make your plan to vote, commit to making your voice heard, and encourage your family, friends, and networks to do the same. 

For 150 years, the YMCA of Greater Seattle has been a welcoming place of connection and belonging for individuals, families, and community, and we remain committed to continuing our work to realize Dr. King's vision of a Beloved Community for all. As we celebrate this milestone, we invite you to join our 150th Anniversary Gala. Register at https://www.seattleymca.org/give/changemaker-awards 

In that spirit of connection and shared responsibility, building on Dr. King's legacy for the next 150 year will require even more from us to realize this powerful vision. Dr. King showed us the way.   Let's continue this journey together, stay on the path blazed by Dr. King, and walk with even greater conviction towards achieving a healthier, happier, more connected community for all.   

This op-ed was published in The Seattle Medium and is shared below as a reprint for our YMCA of Greater Seattle community.