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From the streets of South Central LA to California's highest public health office
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"I think this reentry community is amazing!" remarks Dr. Ramos of Beyond Us & Them's Los Angeles Reentry Collaborative. |
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California Surgeon General, Dr. Diana Ramos, visited the Los Angeles Reentry Collaborative for a personalized pep talk that left the community feeling hopeful and inspired. While speaking on the topic of mental health, her personal story of triumph and of overcoming adversity may well be what attendees will remember most.
Dr. Ramos started her presentation by mentioning that she shares a story similar to many of the formerly incarcerated individuals in the room. She grew up in South Central Los Angeles, near the USC campus, and she knows that her life could have been completely different. The first in her family to go to college, she believes that life circumstances and the choices you make with "what is put in your path" have a great deal to do with success and outcome. She shared that her choice was to focus on her studies and to create a new future... something she admits is not so easy.
When her talk was complete, participants were invited to ask questions and share their experiences. As stories of challenge and hardship were offered, Dr. Ramos brought it back to the room full of like-minded individuals in community. "We are not put into this world to be alone," she reminded Collaborative members, as she encouraged those in attendance to lean on one another, to connect, and to continue to build community.
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Thank you to everyone who supported our Compassionate Action fundraising campaign. It was a great success that enabled us to raise $17,050! We are so grateful for our generous community of supporters.
To kick off 2025, we're launching a new campaign focused on A Future of Connection. Echoing California Surgeon General, Dr. Diana Ramos, we're not meant to go through life alone.
Our mission is to promote structures of belonging, utilizing council and other practices to encourage social connection and wellbeing. "Family" doesn't have to mean the one that you're born into. We've seen firsthand council's ability to bridge divides, and build community amongst the unlikeliest of individuals. If you agree, please don't hesitate to show your support.
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This moment calls for Beyond Us & Them to grow ourcommunity of support, as well. With threats to the federal and state funding that make our work possible, we're asking for those who believe in our cause to support us with a gift.
We need our community to step up and step in, so that our work can continue without pause.
From anecdotal stories of first responders getting off their blood pressure and migraine medications, to the scientific research that shows heart rates coming into coherence while practicing our programs, we know that what we're doing works... and quickly, at that!
At a time when many of us find ourselves retreating to our silos, and fear is stoked about the "other," we're reaching out to supporters who choose to lean in a different direction. We believe in celebrating commonality through listening to our collective stories and making authentic connection through our council-based programs and trainings. Our way fosters wellbeing, connection and compassion.
Help us create a more stable and connected place to call home.
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| Upcoming council training workshop rescheduled due to Palisades fire |
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Classrooms that were salvaged from the Palisades fire in Temescal Gateway Park. |
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Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the recent Los Angeles fires. It feels as though we all know someone personally affected by the devastation, and our hearts are heavy as we share in the suffering of so many Angelenos.
Our beloved workshop site, located in the heart of the Pacific Palisades, was miraculously saved from the fire that engulfed nearby Palisades High School and surrounding businesses. While we're incredibly grateful to learn of this development, there's no word on when Temescal Gateway Park is set to reopen.
For this reason, we have had to reschedule our upcoming council training workshop to March 22-23 at the Audubon Center at Debs Park. If you've taken one of our workshops, you know the importance of the setting. We take pride in offering council trainings in beautiful locations known for nature and respite. The Audubon Center is another stunning and tranquil oasis in the heart of LA. And we hope to resume our workshops at Temescal Gateway Park as soon as it is safe!
If you're interested in joining us for council training in March, or in seeing our schedule of workshops for 2025, please click the button below.
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Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense.
from "A Great Wagon" by Jalaluddin Rumi
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