Many Oklahomans are wrestling with stress from forces beyond our control, whether it be rapid change in the digital world, physical and mental health crises, or social, economic and political conflicts. As the Mayo Clinic explains, we need to “harness the inner strength” that is necessary to deal with these stressful challenges. Until recently, however, we have focused on individual resilience, i.e. the ability for a person to cope with tough events.
The Let’s Fix This CivicsCon 2025 may have focused on the crises that Oklahoma nonprofits are dedicated to addressing, but I found that conversations with the conference’s participants also illuminated the new forms of emotional, financial and political resilience that their organizations must develop in order to help build a more resilient state — bringing the concept beyond the individual and into communities.
The conference offered opportunities for deep, cross-cultural and cross-generational conversations about the hugely painful challenges that Oklahoma, the United States and the world face. Local and national experts and activists shared their insights into the root causes of our state’s mental and physical health crises, the financial challenges faced by public schools, threats to our infrastructures and our rural communities, our inequitable 21st century economy and our democratic and legal institutions.
When discussing these interconnected problems, attendees repeatedly asked for reasons for hope, and I was struck by the number of times the resulting conversations led to calls for resilience. I was also surprised by the complicated nature of that word.
Many Baby Boomers recalled the history of an individualistic type of resilience embedded in Oklahoma’s cultural history. On one hand, it was a fundamental feature of our frontier ethic and the belief that self-reliance and hard work conquer all.
On the other hand, resilience also is a community value. While individualism was a foundational belief for my generation, so was neighborliness. Several Boomers and I recounted the number of mentors we found as children walking through our neighborhoods.
During the 21st century, however, some advocates for resilience have emphasized toughness — often known as “grit.” As Neurozone explains, “Grit focuses on sticking to long-term goals with determination, emphasizing persistence over change.” That sort of resilience was often seen as a tool for winning in the free market system, supposedly driven by individuals’ strengths. But the resulting reward-and-punish mindset can undermine our communities’ resilience as a group.
Service providers are stronger together
Developing networks of resilience that go beyond the individual feels crucial, as so many Oklahomans are struggling with both economic and health problems. De-industrialization destroyed blue collar jobs, especially in rural Oklahoma, undermining hope and contributing to anti-immigrant vituperation, which I believe is the opposite of the “Oklahoma Standard.”
Moreover, Oklahoma consistently remains at or near the top of the states in terms of childhood traumas, known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The CivicsCon 2025 conference was full of child advocates who often work for nonprofits and come together to help their clients develop resilience.
And, now, these nonprofits and governmental agencies need to unite and build their own forms of resilience. Their programs face huge financial challenges owing to federal and state cutbacks.
For instance, The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that more than 100,000 Oklahomans could lose their health care when federal Medicaid cuts come to fruition. This comes at a time when the Oklahoma Legislature is expected to have less to appropriate over the next two years as an income tax cut takes full effect. Meanwhile, state agencies like the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services face higher financial needs just to maintain existing services.
To find a path for meeting the growing challenges that Oklahoma faces, nonprofits will need to tackle health, education and economic challenges before they grow into chronic crises that require much more money to address. To do that, nonprofits must continue to build resilience by networking with each other to deal with the root causes of interconnected problems.
Finally, building networks of service providers requires the building of resilient communities — an especially difficult task because today’s challenges can undermine peoples’ faith in the future.
Given the way political divisions keep on growing, I gained hope at the Let’s Fix This conference that so many organizations remain focused on building resilient institutions and communities over the next five, 10 and 15 years. In the wake of the recent federal budget cuts that Congress has passed, who knows how much greater resilience we will need?
Such a cultural foundation cannot be laid quickly by individuals. We must commit to being “stronger together.” To build individual and community resilience, we must build on our strengths. We need cross-generational and cross-cultural dialogue to grow the team efforts necessary for a healthy and dynamic state.
