Healing HeARTs
Healing HeARTs is a free, annual event hosted by NAPAFASA. It aims to create a safe space where transformative justice circles are used to process difficult conversations such as racism and mental health. They do this by creating community, emotional expression through art, conflict management training, and critical analysis of history and media. They hope to empower participants with tools to become leaders in their communities during this rapidly changing era.
The theme of Healing HeARTs 2024 was “What is something you’ve always wanted to say to a loved one?”
Who was there?
The audience included a wide range of folks across a variety of ages (mostly adults), cultural backgrounds, and professional fields. Many individuals were local to the community. We also connected with local agencies that value uplifting and empowering the community through different modalities (i.e., substance use prevention, public health, etc.). We were able to collaborate with local agencies and have meaningful conversations with community members who stopped by our table.
Workshop
During Healing HeARTs, there were portions of the schedule in which the audience could choose from a variety of different workshops centered around empowerment, processing, creativity, and education. We collaborated with NAPAFASA to create a unique workshop that shared values with Healing HeARTs and Can We Talk?: having difficult conversations in meaningful and effective ways. With my background in psychology, we talked with the audience about communication tools (such as DEAR MAN, a concept derived from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). We drew examples from the book and practiced this skill while assuming the role of one of the characters. We also guided the audience to practice a written form of this skill, folding that piece of paper into a heart, and reflecting on the symbolism of this practice. We had time at the end to share and process reflections.
Book Talk
The actual book talk was set on the main stage with all the participants involved with Healing HeARTs, as it was one of the main items on the schedule for the event.
We started our Book Talk by sharing a brief synopsis of our book and our intended message. Jackie, our author, then read an excerpt from the book to give our audience an idea of the tone, language, readability, and theme of our story. Our NAPAFASA facilitator, Vincent, joined us on stage to ask us questions about ourselves, our inspiration in writing this story, obstacles we’ve overcome, and our own reflections on the book. We also made time to take questions from the audience members who reflected on how the book’s themes related to their own families, inquired about next steps with our book, and shared their own thoughts on the story.
Booth
Throughout this event, we had a booth alongside other local agencies. Among selling copies of our book, we also sold exclusive art prints and coloring pages that are not available for purchase anywhere else. We held a raffle where participants could win free bundles of our book, prints, and coloring pages. The highlight of our booth was being able to connect with community members in a very intimate way, have individualized conversations, and sign copies of our book with handwritten notes.
