They’re not coming.

We’ve waited, we’ve gotten our hopes up…but they’re not coming.

The inspirational elected officials, billionaires with promises of integrity, high-minded philanthropic organizations, all the institutions that were built to hold the high ground, to protect us and to even save us…are not coming. (And many of them are likely the cause of the crisis we’re in now.)

The things I constantly remind people are that (a) you’re not crazy, and (b) you’re not alone. But I also need to say (c) “they” are not coming.

But we are. You are. I am. Not because we’re rushing in to save someone else, but because we’re already here, and this is our community. All of them — because we’re not just part of them, we help make them.

What I see, more clearly than ever before, is that national is not coming to save local. National, even with the best intentions, can’t serve local. In fact, it’s done the opposite by draining local resources and having us feel unheard and left out.

The future is us. Is you. Is where you are right now.

While “they” are not coming, I have genuine hope because people have mobilized in their own communities and neighborhoods — in small and big ways, both incredibly powerful and essential. And you, knowing that it’s up to us, are too.

As journalists, we can’t just observe and document what is happening. We can’t both-sides things while they work down the list and continue to get people we know aren’t a threat. And eventually get us.

We can’t hide behind false claims of objectivity but also claim to “give voice to the voiceless” or “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Those are values, not slogans, that require us to actively engage in working with (and, yes, sometimes protecting) communities — especially the ones we are not a part of.

Things are bad. They will get worse. You are not crazy for feeling that way. But you are not alone. Find that colleague. Find that friend. Find that neighbor. If not in your newsroom or office, find them in your community. Find that local organization that is literally located blocks — walking distance — from where you live and give them a few hours of your time. It doesn’t matter if you don’t share the same faith or have never given them money — it’s not unethical to join your neighbors to help your neighbors in need.

Find the courage…to extend your hand and help do something. You need them just as much as they need you. Not as a savior, but as a member of the community.

You need to remember that they are real. They need to know that you are, too — as a person and as a journalist. They also need to know that the vast majority of us aren’t wealthy with ethical issues sleeping with powerful sources, then getting jobs at national publications and cashing in by writing books about those poor choices. “They” have shown us who they are…and now you need to show your community — yourself — who you are.

And you are not alone. In this past year, I have met journalists that are investing in local. Through acts of journalism, but also in simple re-engagement, reconnection. (Including Adelante fellows.) This may or may not be the path forward, but it is a clear path to surviving this crisis.

“They” want us to give up, but we need us to stand up. We need us. Because they’re not coming. And we are already here.