I want to say something to our readers and supporters at Civic News Company about last week’s presidential election. No matter how you vote, most of us are now united in the belief that our policies are broken and our country cannot meet the challenges we face.

I think we can. But to get there, we need to repair something that goes deeper than politics. We have to repair the fabric of our civilian life.

Healthy civic exchange between various American communities—real-life, non-virtual communities—has been eroding for decades. But this erosion sparked a counterforce, an incipient movement for civic renewal. People prefer toxic shouting to real conversation. Communities that transcend divisions. Journalists like us build outlets like Chalkbeat, Votebeat and Healthbeat where people can get trusted news about issues in their communities, challenging polarization and misinformation.

The truth is that when Americans have the tools to work on real problems in their local communities, they solve problems and create healthier policies. They become what we at Civic News Company call “civic catalysts.” They attend public meetings; they start organizations; they run for office.

We saw this in our work at Civic News Company during both the Trump and Biden years. Following Votebeat’s reporting on proposed or actual changes, we’ve seen ordinary people take action to support the integrity of county elections. We have seen parents and students become aware of well-intentioned changes to education laws that have gone awry through Chalkbeat and seek to reverse them. In many cases, we’ve seen Republicans and Democrats working together to change course when Chalkbeat and Votebeat’s reporting shows their actions harm fair voting or local schools.

We need many more civic catalysts. Because whether you find the potential policies of a second Trump administration exciting or terrifying, you must see that our country has a tough job ahead of us. We will need to consider and follow Trump’s explosive policies shaping life in real communities, from promised deportations to his proposal to eliminate the Department of Education to the possibility of a vaccine skeptic holding the highest public health position in the country.

Trump aside, schools face a problem “education crisis”: Student achievement has declined for the first time in decades (a trend that actually predated COVID). Since Civic News Company began reporting on public health this summer with the launch of Healthbeat, we’ve learned that many experts view another pandemic not as a possibility, but as a matter of when. Meanwhile, our public health system is unprepared and beyond that We are faced with public health doubts in the new president.

The foundations of our democracy that we had the opportunity to take for granted now require careful attention. The electoral system of the USA has been severely tested and in fact emerged stronger, still struggles with insecurity. The attack on January 6 and the two recent assassination attempts on President-elect Trump illustrate a growing trend toward political violence. And our media is corrupted by misinformation, magical thinking, foreign interference, and a declining fourth class due to both diminished economic prospects and diminished credibility.

We cannot raise our hands in the face of these difficulties. We need to enter the arena. Our readers and supporters like you are already doing this.

You support organizations like ours to vote for a healthier democracy.

And you, too, are civic catalysts.

You are teachers, teens, and parents who not only look out for your own best interests, but also ask what’s going on in your community and what you can do to help. You are voters, election officials, and poll workers who monitor democracy’s most precious system and take action when a law or policy threatens it. You are community leaders working to improve the health of your neighbors.

You are the reason I know we can put the toxicity aside and start solving the big problems before us. And you inspire me to be my own civic catalyst the best way I know how, by doing everything I can to keep Chalkbeat, Votebeat, and Healthbeat strong. With your support, we can help make this country a better place by tackling local issues one by one.

Elizabeth Green is the founder and CEO of Civic News Company.