Racial Justice Wellness Fund
Donation protected
Campaign photo courtesy Peer Support Space/Facebook
For the month of December, wellness practitioners and community members involved in healing arts on the Olympic Peninsula are invited to join together to raise funds for the wellness of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Jefferson County doing racial justice work. This money will be used by BIPOC to select and hire healers of color to support their healing and well-being. The aim of this initiative is to holistically support the leadership of local racial justice efforts through helping to resource the community's mental, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Background:
This gofundme initiative grew out of conversations between Jessica Tartaro and Tonia Burkett. Tonia is a local, Black social justice worker and co-facilitator of Racial Justice Literacy training. Jessica is a local, white wellness practitioner. Together, as friends and colleagues, they discussed ways that local wellness and healing professionals can support BIPOC racial justice workers. In conversation with local racial justice workers, it is clear that there is a need for wellness and healing around racialized trauma.
Why:
While there is an abundance of healing professionals on the Olympic Peninsula, there is a limited number who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Those BIPOC healers will be utilized as much as possible, but they, like many healers in the community, may have reached their capacity as healers. As a consequence, the BIPOC in our community have limited access to practitioners who are BIPOC and share their lived experiences.
In the face of this gap, profound stressors have converged on BIPOC in 2020. Racial justice work is critical and needed here, and BIPOC in the community have stepped forward to be vocal and visible advocates for racial justice despite the social, physical, mental, and institutional barriers they face. They have not, however, stepped up without a cost to their well-being.
This money would make it possible for BIPOC in the community to access highly-skilled, trauma informed, and activist savvy healers of color in the Pacific Northwest who can provide healing resources for BIPOC who are interested in participating in healing work.
As wellness leaders, let us rally behind what we know works: the allocation of trustworthy skill, care, education, and compassion in the places damaged by loss, stress, trauma, and a lack of resources. Healthy leaders make a healthy, successful movement. We invite our community to work toward racial justice while bringing together the best of what we know and practice as wellness professionals.
As this profoundly challenging year winds down to a close, we the wellness practitioners of the Olympic Peninsula have a powerful opportunity to acknowledge and help fill a critical unmet need in our community. Please join in giving generously to this initiative and sharing this link with colleagues, friends, and the wellness community far and wide.
Read more about the impact of racism on the health of Black Americans here:
Trauma, Racism, Chronic Stress and the Health of Black Americans. SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity (OBHE)
https://share.nned.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Trauma-Racism-Chronic-Stress-and-the-Health-of-Black-Americans_SAMHSA-OBHE-6420.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1DloOh0B8MQqT2aCoQJH-JxqwCTSY-eEPhVauelSiD8VFeQNgdYItwnuU
For the month of December, wellness practitioners and community members involved in healing arts on the Olympic Peninsula are invited to join together to raise funds for the wellness of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Jefferson County doing racial justice work. This money will be used by BIPOC to select and hire healers of color to support their healing and well-being. The aim of this initiative is to holistically support the leadership of local racial justice efforts through helping to resource the community's mental, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Background:
This gofundme initiative grew out of conversations between Jessica Tartaro and Tonia Burkett. Tonia is a local, Black social justice worker and co-facilitator of Racial Justice Literacy training. Jessica is a local, white wellness practitioner. Together, as friends and colleagues, they discussed ways that local wellness and healing professionals can support BIPOC racial justice workers. In conversation with local racial justice workers, it is clear that there is a need for wellness and healing around racialized trauma.
Why:
While there is an abundance of healing professionals on the Olympic Peninsula, there is a limited number who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Those BIPOC healers will be utilized as much as possible, but they, like many healers in the community, may have reached their capacity as healers. As a consequence, the BIPOC in our community have limited access to practitioners who are BIPOC and share their lived experiences.
In the face of this gap, profound stressors have converged on BIPOC in 2020. Racial justice work is critical and needed here, and BIPOC in the community have stepped forward to be vocal and visible advocates for racial justice despite the social, physical, mental, and institutional barriers they face. They have not, however, stepped up without a cost to their well-being.
This money would make it possible for BIPOC in the community to access highly-skilled, trauma informed, and activist savvy healers of color in the Pacific Northwest who can provide healing resources for BIPOC who are interested in participating in healing work.
As wellness leaders, let us rally behind what we know works: the allocation of trustworthy skill, care, education, and compassion in the places damaged by loss, stress, trauma, and a lack of resources. Healthy leaders make a healthy, successful movement. We invite our community to work toward racial justice while bringing together the best of what we know and practice as wellness professionals.
As this profoundly challenging year winds down to a close, we the wellness practitioners of the Olympic Peninsula have a powerful opportunity to acknowledge and help fill a critical unmet need in our community. Please join in giving generously to this initiative and sharing this link with colleagues, friends, and the wellness community far and wide.
Read more about the impact of racism on the health of Black Americans here:
Trauma, Racism, Chronic Stress and the Health of Black Americans. SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity (OBHE)
https://share.nned.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Trauma-Racism-Chronic-Stress-and-the-Health-of-Black-Americans_SAMHSA-OBHE-6420.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1DloOh0B8MQqT2aCoQJH-JxqwCTSY-eEPhVauelSiD8VFeQNgdYItwnuU
Organizer and beneficiary
Jessica Tartaro
Organizer
Port Townsend, WA
Tonia Burkett
Beneficiary
