Inclusion begins with a simple question: Who might be missing, and what can we do to help them feel welcome?

That idea is at the heart of National Inclusion Week, first launched in 2013 to encourage organizations and communities to create places where people feel respected, valued, and able to participate fully. More than a decade later, that reminder still matters. Inclusion isn’t just a national conversation. It happens close to home—in our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, arts organizations, and community spaces.

It’s a message that is near and dear to our hearts. For more than 50 years, Audiences Unlimited has helped put that idea into practice by creating meaningful arts experiences for older adults and people with disabilities throughout Northeast Indiana.

Sometimes inclusion looks like bringing live music to someone who can no longer easily attend a performance. Sometimes it means creating adaptive opportunities in dance or theater. And sometimes it looks like a colorful mural in downtown Fort Wayne reminding everyone who passes by that all people have something valuable to contribute.

National Inclusion Week gives us a reason to celebrate that work, but its message should last far beyond a single week. It’s built through everyday choices: who we invite, who we listen to, what barriers we remove, and how willing we are to make room for one another.