A Place to Belong
December 29, 2025
On a Tuesday morning earlier this month, the Wassmuth Center came alive with laughter, curiosity, and care. Young children gathered in a circle for Compassion Crew. They laughed together, asked earnest questions, and created colorful artwork as they explored what it means to show kindness, how it feels to be included, and why we take care of one another. In these moments, the children were learning the power of honoring dignity and discovering that even the smallest acts of care can contribute to creating a more just and joyful world.
Later that day, a bus arrived carrying high school students from a rural community in eastern Idaho. Their visit began at the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, where docents guided them through stories of courage and moral choice. Together, they considered the ways people are included or dehumanized and the consequences of those choices, tracing how seemingly small acts of avoidance and othering can escalate into discrimination and violence. From there, the students moved into the Philip E. Batt Education Building, where they learned about Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter and had the rare opportunity to ask him questions directly through cutting-edge technology in the Dimensions in Testimony exhibit. The questions were thoughtful and searching, informed by the understanding that history is not distant and its lessons shape the choices we make today.
That evening, the building filled once again, this time with community members of all ages gathering for Generations for Justice Book Club. Chairs were pulled close as the group discussed Finding Eve by Michael and Angie Devitt. As the conversation unfolded, Tom, a first-time visitor to the Wassmuth Center, shared, “This book changed me.” It was a powerful moment, reminding us that when we slow down, listen deeply, and reflect together, doors open that we didn’t know were closed.
Days like these defined 2025 at the Wassmuth Center. This was our first full year in the Philip E. Batt Education Building, and more than 15,000 people walked through our doors. Many more visited the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial and engaged with our online programs and resources. The Center rarely feels still. Even in the quietest moments, there is a hum of intention and the sense that something meaningful is always unfolding. People arrive ready to listen, to reflect, and to be changed by what they encounter. Because of this community, the Center has become a place where curiosity is welcomed, reflection is encouraged, and dignity is practiced in every interaction.
Throughout the year, we launched eight new human rights education programs, creating opportunities for learners of all ages to engage with the values of dignity, diversity, equality, and joy. From the preschoolers who gather each week for Compassion Crew to the thousands of students who travel from across the state for field trips at the Center, every encounter matters. Each learning experience moves us closer to the kind of world we know is possible — one in which justice is not abstract but lived in relationships, choices, and actions.
As 2025 comes to a close, we return to that circle on the floor — to small hands passing art supplies, to students leaning forward with hard questions, to a first-time visitor discovering the impact of reading and discussing a book that powerfully explores important human rights questions. This is how change happens: moment by moment, when people gather with openness, courage, and care. Because of you, these moments ripple outward, creating a world where human rights are a lived reality for more and more people. Thank you for making the Wassmuth Center a place where this work can continue and for ensuring in the years ahead there will always be a circle to join, a story to hear, and a space to belong.