March 2022

For the first time in our lives, we are all out of our comfort zones. With COVID, the war in the Ukraine, continued polarization within our own communities and nation, the rise in violence and crime, and continued worry about our health, well-being, and even safety, every person is feeling the negative effects. This stress is commingled with our workplace issues to the point where there is seemingly little room for relief! It is a double-edged sword – for some, working from home has meant...

By Laura Gallant, 3/7/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ Today Monday, March 7, is the first day of the Week of HOPE. This week is intended to spread awareness of HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences TM and help people learn about the difference that positive childhood experiences can make for children, families, and those who serve them. We are excited to be celebrating the Week of HOPE across the country. We are especially grateful to Vicky Roper, director of...

Many of us have heard of codependency and narcissism. Codependency is when two people are locked in a life where they feed off on another, causing mental anguish. Narcissism is when one of the pair is self-centered, arrogant, and lacks empathy for their partner. In this article, we shall tackle codependency in more depth. We shall also examine narcissistic abuse, a little talked about syndrome where children and adults are subjected to trauma by a narcissist. What is Codependency?

I have just heard that social media is quite blocked at that very moment. I hope that this article will reach you and give you inner strength. Please check out this page of a German trauma therapist who provides everything in a video. https://www.traumaheilung.net/ru/ If YouTube cannot be reached, please download and read the texts at the bottom of the above provided page. Please spread this information to people in crisis. It will help to be able to stay stable. I wish the best for all of...

Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran The Surviving Spirit Newsletter March 2022 Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter - sharing Hope and Healing Resources for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health is posted at the website -...

By Michael Casey, Star Tribune, February 28, 2022 The House voted Monday to award the only all-female, Black unit to serve in Europe during World War II with the Congressional Gold Medal. The 422-0 vote follows a long-running campaign to recognize the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The Senate passed the legislation last year. The unit, known in short as the Six Triple Eight, was tasked with sorting and routing mail for millions of American service members and civilians. Only a...

By Jericka Duncan, Image: Screenshot from article, CBS News, March 3, 2022 When 35-year-old Maureen Gardner was pregnant, she was on the brink of homelessness — until a new pilot program created a financial bridge to help her stay out of poverty. For years, Gardner worked as a director of a nonprofit after-school program. Right before the pandemic hit, she left the job and went through her savings. Gardner soon found herself expecting her now 5-month-old son Garrett with no job. But then, a...

By Drew Lindsay, Photo: John Cherry/The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 1, 2022 Andrew Woods has wielded far more passion than money in his decades-long fight against violence in his hometown of Hartford, Conn. Help is on the way, however, for his nonprofit and hundreds more nationwide. In 2004, Woods, a licensed social worker, began Connecticut’s first hospital-based program to provide mental-health services and support to victims of violence. It is part of Hartford...

By Usha Lee McFarling, Photo: Hannah Yoon/STAT, STAT, February 24, 2022 W hen Quinn Capers IV took over as associate dean of admissions at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2009, just 13% of the entering class came from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine. A Black cardiologist, he thought the school could do better. Capers launched a series of changes, starting with testing the 140 members of the admissions committee (like the faculty, largely white) for...

By Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Andrew S. Curran, Illustration: Billie Carter-Rankin, The New York Times, March 3, 2022 The other day, while teaching a lecture class, one of us mentioned in passing that the average African American, according to a 2014 paper , is about 24 percent European and less than 1 percent Native American. A student responded that these percentages were impossible to measure, since “race is a social construction.” Given our country’s history of scientific racism — and all...

By Gabriella Velasco and Oriya Cohen, Photo: ostreetphotography/Shutterstock, Housing Matters, March 2, 2022 Zoning reform is not sexy. It’s a complicated process deeply entangled in bureaucratic decisionmaking that often stifles public participation. But zoning profoundly shapes our communities: it is the local regulatory tool that helps dictate where housing, schools, and parks are located; who can access them; and how they’re built. In the United States, zoning codes played a central role...

By Jordan Costa, Photo: Celiafoto/Shutterstock, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, March 2, 2022 The past couple of years have been some of the deadliest for many major U.S. cities . Murder rates have spiked and gun sales have surged . We want the violence to stop. However, our chosen means of addressing violence prevention are shaped by who’s leading that conversation. Too often, the results of those discussions have tended to be punitive in nature, resulting in over-policing and mass...