Editor:

Many thanks to the North Coast Journal and reporter Linda Stansberry for the moving, in-depth article "Ready/Preparados" (April 9) on the work of the grassroots activist network True North.

Mentioned briefly in the article was the fact that, in addition to the Latino communities in Fortuna and Eureka, other cultural and faith-based groups from various locations in Humboldt and Del Norte counties were represented at True North's Regional Assembly, held in Orick in February. For example, I attended with members of faith-based groups from Eureka, Arcata and McKinleyville. We had met earlier to discuss our concerns, and at the regional meeting we chose homelessness and the need for housing as our immediate focus. A delegation from Klamath chose education as its focus, and another tribal group found that its most urgent concern was cultural self-determination in land management.

We all learned a lot about each other, found common threads in our communities' values and concerns, and agreed that we are all prepared to support one another's aims and efforts in every way possible.

Maggie Shaffer, Arcata