AURA HOME WOMEN VETS
50 South French Broad Avenue
Suite 203
Asheville NC 28801
828-771-6979
http://aurahomewomenvets.org
*******************************************************************************
Prem Rawat Foundation Supports Veterans With Peace Education Program
This article is also available in: French
For too many veterans, finding an enduring sense of peace remains elusive long after they return from war. They often face immense challenges as they transition to civilian life, from trauma disorders to unemployment and homelessness.
Thankfully, November 11 marks an occasion to honor their service and support solutions that can improve their lives. The date is Veterans Day in the United States, and in many other countries it is called Remembrance Day and Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I.
A growing number of veterans say the Peace Education Program is a solution that gives them the tools they need to harness their own inner-strength and overcome their obstacles. The program’s workshops feature videos of Prem Rawat’s empowering international talks on themes such as dignity, choice and hope.
“The Peace Education Program tries only to achieve one simple thing: it’s to put you in touch with yourself,” says Rawat.
While the goal is simple, the impact was profound for Alyce Knaflich, a veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress, depression and homelessness for 10 years. She credits PEP with giving her the confidence to now work as the executive director of Aura Home Women Vets, a charity in Asheville, NC that provides housing and support to homeless women veterans.
Veteran Alyce Knaflich shares her story in this video.
“I was lost. Prem Rawat and his message in the program, it brought me home. And my home is my heart. Peace starts on the inside,” says Knaflich.
She has incorporated the Peace Education Program into Aura Home’s services to help her clients have the same enriching experience that she did.
“Prem’s message will help them heal their emotional stress, and ease the transition of coming out of the military and trying to find a new career path. It will help them center themselves and bring out their confidence,” says Knaflich.
Empowering Women through Writing, Weaving and Sharing
Be heard, connect with your inner resources and cultivate courage to create change.
Our Mission
To create a woven tapestry based on the stories of 1,000 women globally by 2020 that will be exhibited internationally to shine a light on the creative accomplishments of women while calling attention to the challenges women currently face world-wide.
To foster a culture of self-knowledge and sharing that builds courage and fosters a sense of power in women everywhere to contribute to their communities in positive ways.
To allow women to tell the story of their lives, as a catalyst for change, particularly by opening up discussions about issues of domestic violence and sexual abuse in a safe and supportive way.
To promote resilience, compassion, open communication, healing and peace in individuals and communities.
Intro to the Project
Participating in Woven Voices is a journey that starts with self-reflection and writing, and transforms into a woven tapestry, a visual storyboard of women’s lives from around the globe. The 3 elements of the Woven Voices project work together as tools to access, claim, and celebrate our power as individuals and together as a global community of women.
The Artist
Brecia Kralovic-Logan is a passionate champion of creativity who has spent the last 40 years helping people of all ages to embrace and express their unique individuality.
Brecia Kralovic-Logan
4164 Mount Hukee Ave
San Diego, Ca 92117
Mobile: 805-896-3287
breciakl@gmail.com
breciacreative.com
thespiralofcreativity.com
Socially Conscious Leadership from the Inside Out
Our guest this week has come to believe that “No matter how wonderful a program is, if it is done as a bestowing – a certain group of people making decisions for another group – that is never going to bridge the divide in our city.” Does your work fit within this paradigm of “bestowing,” and how do you plant seeds for a deeper mindset or consciousness shift to address underlying structural issues? Share Your Reflection »
Dallas-based therapist, activist, writer, community leader and speaker Michelle Kinder examines and teaches conscious leadership “from the inside out.” She offers practical, achievable steps for parents, teachers and others to support children’s social-emotional health, and for business and other leaders to drive transformation in their lives and organizations. While exploring the lack of mental health resources in southern Dallas, Kinder got to know the work of the Momentous Institute, a 99-year-old Dallas-based nonprofit organization that has been building and repairing social-emotional health through education and mental health programs. Momentous Institute serves vulnerable children through therapy services, curriculum and teacher training focused on See full.
Five Questions for Michelle
What Makes You Come Alive?
Thank you for asking. Learning makes me come alive. Learning combined with contribution has long been a winning formula for me feeling most alive. Over the years I developed the habit of checking in with myself every six months or so with the questions “Am I learning? Am I contributing?” There have been interesting seasons on how the two balance each other. There are times that striving to contribute crowded out the kind of white space by brain needs for deep learning and I have had to course correct. And there have been other times that I was learning a lot, but didn’t feel like I was being a good steward in terms of making a difference for other people or for causes I care about. I should also say that because I am currently in a season of more white space and more time for discernment, increasingly, simple pleasures are what make me come alive. Listening to birds, watching our dogs, yoga, running, sunshine, good coffee and the sound of my girls laughing together. Things like that.
Pivotal turning point in your life?
When I was in High School I left my family in Guatemala and came to the states to attend boarding school. It was a transformational experience. The wonderful faculty there saw qualities in me that they nurtured into leadership and I really learned who I was and what I was capable of during those four years. Interestingly, in my previous school, there were teachers who experienced the exact same qualities as problematic, annoying or something to control. Having that experience has made me very interested in how adults show up in the lives of children in a way that respects the enormous privilege and responsibility. I always say there are no neutral interactions when it comes to our relationships with children – all interactions are either positive, negative or missed opportunities.
An Act of Kindness You’ll Never Forget?
When I was in college, my 24-year-old sister died suddenly and it was an enormous challenge to go back to school while navigating the grief process. Several weeks into it, when people had stopped checking in, I found a card tucked into one of my books. It was from a classmate I knew somewhat, but not super well. It said something like, “I know time has passed but your hurt hasn’t.” I still tear up thinking about that act of kindness. It meant so much and it has shaped my desire to show up for others in similar ways.
One Thing On Your Bucket List?
Have the kind of flexibility to visit different places for a month at a time and work remotely while folding into the local scene.
One-line Message for the World?
Regardless of the situation, if you ever aren’t sure how to be most helpful, regulate your own nervous system.
***************************************************************************************************
Awakin Circles: A hub for local meditation circles that started in the Silicon Valley and have now spread to 80+ cities around the globe. The circle start with an hour of silence, followed by a circle of sharing and dinner in silence. A newsletter with a passage selected from various wisdom traditions and an audio reading is sent out to 87,000 subscribers each week. See also Awakin Calls that hosts weekly conversations with wide-ranging thought leaders.
***************************************************************************************************
ServiceSpace is an organization run entirely by volunteers. We leverage technology to encourage everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. Our aim is to ignite the fundamental generosity in ourselves and others, creating both inner and outer transformation.
ServiceSpace was conceived by volunteers, was built by volunteers, and is run by volunteers — all for the benefit of volunteers. Our projects range from a daily positive news service, to an acts-of-kindness portal, to a gift-economy restaurant. Regardless of the endeavor, we act in concert to create service opportunities for each other and to support each other’s service journeys.
In September of 2011, we formally changed our name from CharityFocus to ServiceSpace. Founded in 1999, ServiceSpace was originally started to help non-profits with technical services. Over the past dozen years, the organization has become an umbrella for many generosity-driven projects. Thus we have expanded our services from focusing just on helping charities, to encouraging everyday people to contribute in meaningful ways to the world around them. As the name suggests, our new expanded ServiceSpace platform allows people to stay connected with others interested in service, participate in service opportunities through any of our dozen projects, organize their own local service event using our tools, and stay connected to inspirational content. Above all, we believe in the inherent generosity of others and aim to ignite that spirit of service. Through our small, collective acts, we hope to transform ourselves and the world.
We hold these three principles steadfast within our organization:
Stay fully volunteer-run.
ServiceSpace was founded by volunteers and is run by volunteers. There is no paid staff, no office, and no central facilities. All ServiceSpace programs are conceived, designed, implemented, and administered by people who selflessly give their time so that others can benefit from those services.
Based on twelve years of our experience with a volunteer-run infrastructure, we’ve developed a streamlined process that structures projects in a distributed and decentralized manner. This allows more volunteers to give small chunks of time and still deliver high quality services to the end-receiver.
Being volunteer-run also allows us to organically self-organize. Instead of hierarchies and prefabricated business plans, our volunteer infrastructure is dynamic, low-cost and open to radical change. Everything is based on relationships and presence, and that creates a powerful context to BE the change.
We continue to be amazed at what inspired and dedicated individuals can do. Margaret Mead eloquently said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.” We could not agree more.
Serve with whatever we have.
We have chosen a slightly different path than most organizations, and choose not to focus on fundraising, grants, or other sources of revenue – for example, none of our websites contain any advertisement. All services are distributed are gifted without any fees. Thus, we serve with whatever support and resources that come in organically when people are truly moved to give.
ServiceSpace projects are built within a gift-economy system, an economic system in which goods and services are given freely, rather than traded. In a traditional market economy, one’s wealth is increased by saving. In a gift economy, giving leads to increase: an increase in connections and relationship strength.
Our services are given freely, without asking for anything in return. Instead of scarcity and fear for an uncertain future, our second principle roots us in abundance and trust. We have realized that over time, if you serve with pure intentions, people’s cups of gratitude overflow. They don’t give to fulfill a need, they give as an expression of their own solidarity and joy. These genuine gifts, no matter how small or large, are what sustains us.
Focus on the small.
Our attempt is to do “small acts with great love”. As our tagline says, “Change Yourself, Change the World.” If we started out by having a goal to change the world, we might have been a little disappointed in our abilities; when we start with ourselves, we notice that the ripples around us continue to get bigger and bigger and as more people try to do small acts, we have every potential to change the world.
Just as every tiny bit of a hologram contains information of the whole, we feel that paying attention to the process, to the present moment, gives us plenty of information to become instruments of a larger, systemic change.
This is how ServiceSpace makes things happen. But essentially the engine that drives the organization is inspiration, pure and simple. We learn from each other, spur each other, help each other, and frequently amaze each other. Sure, we are stirred by the words and lives of great men and women like Gandhi and Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa; but the examples set by our ServiceSpace colleagues–everyday heroes–are the real sustaining forces behind our projects.
SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH
AND
The 2019 Theme is “Prepared, Not Scared.”
|
|||||||||||||
Support charities that help those affected by disaster by
donating to PayPal Giving Fund.
100% of donations made to PayPal Giving Fund go to
charity, no deductions, no fees.
TransOhio and Clintonville Counseling and Wellness present the 2nd Annual Trans Career and Wellness Day at Columbus Public Health! Local employers and community and wellness partners will be onsite to offer employment, health, and other opportunities to the transgender and gender non-confirming community.
10AM – 3PM: Job Fair with dozens of local affirming and inclusive employers and resources from Community organizations
11AM – 4PM: Wellness Workshops
10AM – 4PM: Medical testing by Columbus Public Health
Please check back to hear about the employers and community partners attending this year, details about the wellness workshops, and info about raffle prizes! Please share!
TransOhio, Inc.
P.O. Box 14481
Columbus, Ohio 43214
Email: TransOhio@transohio.org
Facebook: TransOhio Fan page
Our Mission
TransOhio serves the Ohio transgender and ally communities by providing services, education, support, and advocacy, which promotes and improves the health, safety and life experience of the Ohio transgender individual and community.
Our Vision
- to serve as a bridge to other LGBTQ+ and ally communities
- to provide a focus for matters of concern to the Ohio transgender community and their allies by providing open, affirming, visible and tangible support
- to promote opportunities and networking that increase awareness of the Transgender and gender-nonconforming community’s needs and concerns such, as discrimination and violence
- to increase lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual, and ally understanding and cultural awareness of the Ohio Transgender community
- to help ensure that Ohio educational programs and services are inclusive and supportive of Ohio Transgender issues, perspectives, and concerns
- to provide social activities that are inclusive of all LGBTQ+ and ally communities, access to safe-spaces, people, forums for confidential discussion, support, and local and national resource information
- to foster Ohio Transgender community pride
THOUSANDS OF LGBTQ ACTIVISTS TO CONVENE IN DALLAS, TX JANUARY 2020 FOR 32ND ANNUAL CREATING CHANGE CONFERENCE, WITH THEME OF LOVE, LEARNING & LIBERATION!
REVEREND ANGEL KYODO WILLIAMS TO KEYNOTE
– Thousands of LGBTQ advocates, activists, leaders, and allies will gather in Dallas, TX for the 32nd Creating Change Conference from Wednesday, January 15 through Sunday, January 19, 2020 at the Sheraton Dallas.
The Creating Change Conference, run by the National LGBTQ Task Force, is the foremost political, leadership, and skills-building conference for the LGBTQ social justice movement. Since 1988, Creating Change has created opportunities for tens of thousands of committed people to develop and hone their activist skills, build community, and inspire. This year, in addition to the political focus of the work, the Conference will be focusing on the 2020 Census and building capacity to ensure everyone is counted.
The primary goal of the Creating Change Conference is to build the LGBTQ movement’s political power from the ground up to secure our overarching goal of full freedom, justice, and equality for LGBTQ people and their families in the United States.
This will be the second Creating Change Conference managed by Andy Garcia, who is bringing some new changes to the longtime activist gathering as attendance grows and diversifies. Garcia said, “It is clear that 2020 will be a critical year for all of us, including LGBTQ communities. We face a historic election year, some of the most significant Supreme Court cases in our lifetime, on-going attacks from the current administration, and an epidemic of violence, among other challenges. Creating Change is where LGBTQ advocates, activists, leaders, and allies come together to learn and connect with each other, with a focus on creating a welcoming space for queer and trans people of color. We need that now more than ever.”
The keynote speaker for Creating Change 2020 will be Reverend angel Kyodo williams, who will kick off this year’s conference at the opening plenary on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7 PM. With the alarming murders of trans women of color across the country, the Creating Change Conference community will also be rallying to spotlight and build capacity to address this epidemic as well as featuring the resilience, determination, and leadership of the trans community.
PLENARIES
Opening Plenary Session: Love, Learning, and Liberation
From the Census to the election, 2020 is going to be historic. We have a lot of work ahead of us against a backdrop of an epidemic of trans women of color being murdered and a rollback of hard-fought gains by the current administration. This plenary aims to set a new tone for the conference and for our movement: one of love, learning, and liberation. As we create change together, how can we be mindful to center our hearts and our minds?
Opening Keynote Speaker: Rev. angel Kyodo williams: Love and Justice are One
Called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, angel Kyodo williams is an author, activist, master trainer, and founder of Transformative Change. Her newest work, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love & Liberation, is igniting communities to have the long overdue conversations necessary to become more awake and aware of what hinders liberation of self and society. angel notes, “Love and Justice are not two. Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.” She was made for these times.
Plenary Session: The Annual State of the Movement Address
Following our Creating Change 2020 theme, “Love, Learning, and Liberation,” Task Force executive director, Rea Carey, and deputy executive director, Kierra Johnson will host the annual State of the Movement plenary. Even as LGBTQ people and their families are under attack by the current administration, we know our community is strong, resilient, creative, and determined. This year, with special guests, we will focus on the issues facing trans women of color, the work being done to address anti-trans violence and systemic discrimination, and moving us forward in our work for freedom, justice, and liberation. Come be inspired to fight on, and defeat those who intend to make our lives invisible!
Closing Plenary Session: Queering Immigration: Owning Our Power, Building the Defense Line
Immigration will once again be a top issue this election year. This panel will focus on how we can collectively build power by centering the needs and experiences of those most impacted: queer and trans people of color. Our expert panelists will talk about deportation defense, rapid response at the neighborhood, city, and state level, the criminalization of Black and Brown bodies, legislative victories, and so much more. Our call to action will be the work that still needs to get done: closing the camps, stopping the arrests and deportations, and imagining a world without borders.
The immigration-focused panel will be made up of Sharita Gruberg (She/Her/Hers), policy director for the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress; Oluchi Omeoga (They/Them/Theirs), a co-creator and Core Team member of Black Visions Collective, a black-led local organization working in Minnesota; Monserrat Padilla (She/Her/Hers) the Coordinator for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network; Nancy Haque (She/Her/Hers), executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, an LGBTQ political advocacy organization with a focus on transgender justice and racial justice; and Dani Marrero Hi of the Texas Civil Rights Project.
New for this year, the traditional closing plenary brunch will be replaced by a dynamic indoor street fair on Sunday, January 19th with an 11:30 am – 1:00 pm “Send Off Celebration!” including accessible HIV testing and mammogram screening.
DAY-LONG INSTITUTES
This year’s Racial Justice Institute encompasses queerness and racial diversity within an expression and experience that centers on resisting with all our brilliance, our joy, and our truth. Keynote speaker and Queer Black Feminist Love Evangelist Alexis Pauline Gumbs will offer a loving reflection and an accessible practice designed to impact how to work together through and across difference and depth. In addition, our second keynote Timothy DuWhite is a Black, queer, poz-writer/artist based out of Brooklyn, NY. A majority of his work circles around the intersections of state & body, state & love, and state & mind. Following our keynotes is a series of afternoon breakout sessions on topics that range in topics from Talking to Kids about Race, Respectfully United – Allyship Without Tokenization, Beyond D&I: Organizing for Racial Equity, The Metamorphosis of White Men: Ending our Legacy and Creating a New Story.
Also this year, the Conference team is excited to add six new Day Long Institutes, bringing the total number of these intensive eight hour sessions to 23. New topics like Disability Justice and Leading in Complex Situations will be held alongside returning favorites like the Trans Institute, Latinx Institute, and LGBTQ+ Campus Resource Professionals Institute.
For more information about the day long institutes see here: https://www.creatingchange.org/day-long-institutes-2/
WORKSHOPS AND CAUCUSES
The conference features over 250 workshop and caucus sessions. Workshops range from 90 minutes to three hours, addressing the vast scope of issues relevant to LGBTQ activism and organizing. There are nearly a dozen sessions on campus organizing, several intergenerational dialogues, many workshops focused on healing and well-being, art and theater activism, racial and economic justice, trans issues, and a robust track for political advocacy. Caucuses cover a broad range of identities and interests, including caucuses for deaf queer people, lesbians, Queer Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) people, LGBTQ people in STEM, LGBTQ Jews, and parents.
AWARDS
SAGE Award for Excellence in Leadership on Aging Issues: Carmen Vasquez
Carmen Vasquez was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Harlem, New York. Among her many accomplishments, Vasquez was the Founding Director of the Women’s Building in San Francisco, helped found the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in San Francisco, and the LGBT Health & Human Services Network. She was a founder and principal author of Causes in Common (a national coalition of Reproductive Justice and LGBT Liberation activists). Her essays have been published in several anthologies and she has made scores of keynote presentations at conferences and college campuses across the United States. Vasquez is the Co-Chair of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation Board of Directors and the former Director of LGBT Health and Human Services.
Haas, Jr. Award for Outstanding LGBTQ Leadership for Immigrant Rights: Stephanie Cho
Stephanie Cho is the Executive Director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta. She brings 20 years of experience in labor and community organizing, strategy planning, and fundraising at the local and national level. Under her leadership over the last three years, AAAJ-Atlanta has worked to protect DACA and end local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. Originally born in South Korea, Cho grew up in Oregon. In 2015, she co-authored “Beyond the Binary: A Tool Kit for Gender Identity Activism in Schools.” Last year, she was a Grand Marshal for Atlanta Pride.
The Leather Leadership Award: Judy Tallwing McCarthy
Judy Tallwing McCarthy has been involved in the leather/BDSM world since 1969; and, in 1987, became first International Ms. Leather. That same year, she was the leather community’s keynote speaker at the 1987 March on Washington. She has also served as Co-Chair of the National Leather Association from 1988-1992. She is widely credited for helping change the focus of leather to community activism. Judy Tallwing McCarthy continues to judge, teach, and speak at various leather events and has been honored with numerous awards from the leather community. Of Apache, Tewa, and African descent, Judy Tallwing McCarthy has raised raising six biological children (with 25 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren) and nurtured and protected numerous “leatherkids.” Judy Tallwing McCarthy will be the first woman of color to receive the Leather Leadership Award.
The Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement, sponsored by Wild Geese Foundation: Monica Roberts
Monica Roberts is the founding editor of the award winning TransGriot blog, and a longtime award-winning human rights advocate. She has been advocating for the human rights of transgender people for over 20 years, with a focus on the issues affecting Black trans people. Her writing has appeared at Ebony.com, the Advocate, Black Girl Dangerous, and in the ‘Unapologetically Trans’ monthly column in Houston’s OutSmart magazine. Some of the honors that Roberts has received are the 2018 GLAAD Media Award, the Robert Coles Call of Service Award from Harvard University’s Phillips Brooks House Assn, the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award from the Harris County Democratic Party, the IFGE Trinity Award, and being named to the 2019 OUT100.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Creating Change Conference is committed to radical accessibility. Everyone benefits when everyone participates fully and equitably in every aspect of the conference. When you register online for Creating Change, you can request:
- ASL interpretation
- Spanish translation
- Programs in large print
- Electric scooters and wheelchairs
- Assisted Listening Devices
- Magnifiers, readers, and step stools
There will be a staffed Accessibility Table set up near registration, where attendees can ask questions, meet up with an interpreter, and pick up the items listed above.
There will also be an ASL “Hub” where our team of ASL interpreters meet and plan their day. Last year we had over 40 ASL interpreters.
There will also be a People with Disabilities Hospitality Suite where those who need and want to have an opportunity to regroup and relax.
PRESS CREDENTIALS
Press are invited to the conference, and press credentials are given out as space provides. To request credentials email Sarah Massey and Cathy Renna below. Confirmation of credentials will be considered on a rolling basis and as space allows.
MISSION STATEMENT
The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we’ve made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. These barriers must go. That’s why the Task Force is training and mobilizing millions of activists across our nation to deliver a world where you can be you. For more general information go to https://www.thetaskforce.org
Contact: Sarah Massey, Communications Director, National LGBTQ Task Force, 202-639-6308, smassey@thetaskforce.org
Cathy Renna, TargetCue, 917-767-5123, cathy@targetcue.com
pictured above: Brooke Medicine Eagle
www.Spiritual-Wildfire-Summit.
com Joan D’Argo
I’m thrilled to invite you to a FREE global online Summit that starts Feb. 2-7 called:
Igniting the Worldwide Spiritual Wildfire We Need Now: A Call to Action
LINK TO: https://www.spiritual-wildfire-summit.com
I’ll be participating with 23 other featured speakers including Sandra Ingerman, Andrew Harvey, Nina Simons, Cynthia Jurs, Steve Farrell and Lyla June Johnston and I’d love for you to join us! Each of us will be offering inspiration, healing, and empowering practical tools to anyone who is ready to courageously use their own light to help ignite a worldwide spiritual wildfire.
The Spiritual Wildfire Summit is organized to address the fact that we live in epic times. In fact, we are experiencing nothing less than the reinvention of civilization. Yet as we dive into uncharted waters and move closer to a critical tipping, we see a worldwide awakening beginning to catch fire. The Spiritual Wildfire Summit offers inspiration, healing, and empowering practical tools to anyone who is ready to courageously use their own light to help ignite a worldwide spiritual wildfire.
To register for this free event click here. Link to: https://www.spiritual-wildfire-summit.com
Together we can create a new world based on compassion, wisdom, justice, and joy!
During this FREE 6-day global online summit, together we will experience & integrate profound ways to restore the Story of Our Awakened Hearts.
This transformational event is FREE to all registered attendees! You do need to RSVP in order to receive all of the info you need to participate in this unique and never before seen gathering of visionaries!
|
