Cedar Rapids is a community of helpers

At the Catherine McAuley Center (CMC), we are in the business of hope and opportunity, and 2026 provides a new landscape for both. As the Executive Director at CMC, a lifelong Cedar Rapidian (and honestly) a lifelong optimist, I believe fully in the power of community. I believe especially in the power of Cedar Rapids.

This past year was a hard year for so many in our community, and nonprofits specifically felt the burden of helping an increasing number of people with a decreasing amount of funding. These cuts ultimately affect all of our community members. The surge in need means nonprofits are facing a greater necessity for support, community, and for collaboration with partners. After sweeping changes to funding and services, it could be easy to allow the low points of 2025 to overshadow everything else. However, my faith in our community to step up and help each other remains unshaken. I saw the care we have for each other — first during the flood; then during the derecho; and this past year as our community rallied around our social service providers.

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Cedar Rapids is a welcoming city, a caring city, and a positive community for all — I do not doubt this. The nonprofits in Cedar Rapids are committed to renewed collaboration and transparency as we navigate a reality where the obstacles to thriving seem insurmountable. Nonprofits are all looking toward new fundraising strategies and asking ourselves — how do we sustain our organizations when previously relied upon funding is no longer available? How do we ask businesses, foundations, and donors to make up the differences in funding?

I am a professed optimist and I have great faith in the Cedar Rapids community to show up, to create a sense of safety and belonging for all of us, and to find new and exciting ways to help those in need.

The New Year ushers in fresh ways for our community to engage in new opportunities for creativity, for collaboration, and for partnership building! We are a community of helpers. We recognize humanity in our city, and we act together to ensure our neighbors are safe and secure. I invite you all to look forward with my brand of slightly audacious optimism and do what Cedar Rapids does best — create community through volunteerism, charitable giving, and true care for our neighbors.

May 2026 bring peace and sustaining joy.

Anne Dugger is executive director of the Catherine McAuley Center.