You are still who you are. I think that is crucial to remember. 

Today is a day of soul searching. I can see it on the faces of people I meet. Whether they look vindicated or distressed, they all appear as if they feel alienated from the other half of America. 

No matter how you feel about the election, it hasn’t changed who you are as a person. Nor has it changed the other people around you. 

If you cared about the environment yesterday, you still do today. If you thought education holds the key to a better world, for you, that is still true. If you believe everyone deserves a fair chance, you will continue to work to that end. 

We must stop believing that there are two Americas; red states and blue states, conservatives and liberals. These false dichotomies are brought to you by the two-party system, and they are as meaningless as they are unfortunate. Perhaps the greatest disservice The Political Machine has done to us is to convince us that there are two groups of people; those who think like we do, and everyone else, who must therefore be stupid, greedy or Un-American.

America is one nation of people who have many different ideas. And from those differences come dynamism, innovation and progress. Our greatness always has and always will come from our many differences. E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One. 

Yet, for all our differences, most of us want the same things, be they captains of industry or families living out of their cars. We want to stand on our own two feet, to earn enough to save for our retirement and to see our children have the chance at a good life.

You are still who you are. And what you do matters.

At PLACE, we’re still the same people we were before. We’ll still continue to build places where people and the planet can thrive. We believe that the communities we build—that provide healthy homes for people, address their transportation needs, that are filled with art and culture, that create jobs, that grow their own food and generate their own energy and are affordable to people no matter what their income—can positively impact people’s lives more than anything a president can do.

Chris Velasco is Co-Founder of PLACE