Dear friends, family, and kind-hearted supporters,

I’m reaching out with a request for help as I embark on a volunteer mission with Emergency Pedagogy Without Borders Team USA to support communities affected by crisis. In the coming weeks, I will be traveling to Texas for a week-long intervention, where devastating floods have caused widespread damage and left many children and their families in crisis. After that, we are in the process of planning to continue on to a weekend intervention in Minneapolis during the month of November, where a recent school shooting has left the community grappling with unimaginable loss and tragedy.

As a volunteer with Emergency Pedagogy Without Borders, my role is to provide support through art, music, storytelling and movement based in Waldorf philosophy and traumatology to communities hit hard by disaster. My work will include offering "first aid" of the soul, creating safe spaces for children and families to process their grief, and supporting local educators as they help students cope with the long-term impacts of trauma.

I have seen firsthand the difference that providing support during moments of crisis can make. In 2024, I was part of the intervention in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, where I worked primarily with early childhood children and their parents. A few months later, Emergency Pedagogy Team USA came to Los Angeles to support after the Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed many homes including my own.

I’m raising funds to cover travel and supply expenses for this intervention, which will include flights, transportation within the affected regions, and materials needed.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your generous support. If you can’t donate at this time, please consider sharing this campaign with others who might be able to help.

With gratitude,

Rosa Balderrama

Waldorf Teacher & Emergency Pedagogue