A Spark, and What Comes Next
Caitie Hilverman, Executive Director of The Spark of Hudson
When I first sat down with Gigi and Albert, the founders of The Spark of Hudson, almost three years ago, I couldn’t have imagined what we would build together. The Spark was still mostly an idea then, a hope for a place that could hold the messy, important work of learning together and being in community.
Since then, we’ve opened the doors of The Spark Building, a four-story community center on the corner of 5th and Union. We’ve hosted everything from kids’ craft workshops to coding lessons, coworking to concerts, solstice parties to sewing circles. We’ve grown a team, set systems in motion, and made The Spark into a place people count on.
Along the way, we’ve incubated Circles Bagels — now nationally acclaimed. We’ve launched a youth apprenticeship program that’s already on its fourth cohort, building skills and showing our young people that they do have a future here. And we’ve funded the important, innovative work of the nonprofit organizations that make Hudson a home. We’ve given them space, partnered with them, imagined a future alongside them. I feel very proud of what we’ve built together.
And now it’s time for a shift.
As of the end of the year, I’ll be stepping away from my role as Executive Director. It feels right – Spark-aligned, even – to take what I’ve learned here and use it to make something of my own. If you’ve found meaning in what I’ve done at The Spark, I’d love for you to come with me into this next chapter. The best way to stay connected is by subscribing to my Substack, All My Dead and Living Things, here:
👉 deadandlivingthings.substack.com
And if you want to support The Spark itself — the team, the mission, the community hub we’ve built together — you can do that too. Come to our programs. Rent our space. Donate if you’re able. Every way you interact helps keep The Spark special, and helps it remain a place where Hudson can learn, gather, and grow.
Thank you for being part of what we’ve built together. I’ll still be around — writing about Hudson, hosting workshops, cleaning graves in the cemetery, showing up for this city. Just in a new way, one that feels more rooted in the long arc of my own work.
Here’s to The Spark. And here’s to what comes after.
With gratitude,
Caitie
