Beginning October 1, 2024, Pinnacle Prevention is transitioning to a 32-Hour/4-Day work week while maintaining full employee pay. We will be in a pilot period phase of this transition from October 1 through December 31, 2024; however, we fully expect that this will remain our permanent work week schedule while holding flexibility to work around unique needs for each member of the team.
Why are we making this change? This is not a decision we came to lightly. Plans for this have been years in the making. We have been analyzing, watching, and observing to find the best path to make this feel possible for us. The short answer is we want to create internal systems that support the well-being and resilience of our staff. Research shows that a 32-hour/4-day work week results in improved overall wellbeing, improved mental health, and improved morale. The long answer to the why, is that this decision aligns with our values and position on justice. At Pinnacle Prevention we are in the work of policy and systems change and this means re-examining our societal norms, especially norms around labor and burnout. We know we are better able to support others when our team feels like we have time for rest, family, and nurturing our hobbies and passions. We aren’t alone in this change, either. Many countries, governments, and states in the U.S. have taken policy action towards shorter work weeks. Adjusting work schedules also benefits the earth. The drop in commuting and work-related travel is leading to a reduction in harmful emissions, improved air quality, and reduced energy consumption. What changes can you expect when working with us? So, what will this look like for Pinnacle Prevention operations? Effective October 1, 2024, our new business hours of operation will be Monday – Thursday from 8AM-5PM. Our office will be closed Friday-Sunday. There’s no one-size-fits-all and team member flexibility, choice, and autonomy in scheduling is important to us. Some team members will be working 8-hour days Monday-Thursday. Other team members have opted to work 6.5-hour days Monday-Friday with Friday being a ‘meeting-free/focused project time’ day. Will we be available when you need us? We remain committed to our relationships with you, our partners and community. We are intentionally piloting a flexible schedule. Many of our partners and friends work weekends, especially those operating farmers markets. You will still see us at the markets occasionally on weekends for visits or technical assistance support or for events, and then team members will flex that time later in the week. We know we’ll need to be flexible in our planning. We are holding the tension between the appreciation for more time, and the balance of what currently feels like already stretched bandwidth across our small team. We know we can’t just drop a day and then carry on with business as usual. During the pilot period we will be trying and testing new work habits and processes to adjust to workload and time management. This will include examining our culture and habits around email and meeting scheduling, for example. A Thought About Supporting Resilience We’ve had a chance to speak with a lot of folks who work in various roles in the larger system. From folks who grow the food that feeds us, those working to get food to those who need it, and those who work in various programs to improve the systems and environments that support us all. We’ve also talked to the folks most impacted by the system, our fellow Arizonans and neighbors who care about their families and communities and just want dignity and peace for all. One thing we know is true from listening to their stories, is this work is often slow and heartbreaking. Systems change doesn’t always move at the speed in which people deserve and it is often riddled with setbacks. There are wins, and moments of joy and connection, too. But we hear it’s often hard to celebrate those moments when we know “we’re not there yet.” Many communities and families in Arizona already know the value of rest, joy, and celebration in survival. Polyvagal theory teaches us that nervous systems need connection, rest, and joy. Our nervous systems talk to one another and seek this co-regulation. We see the 32-hour work policy as a trauma-informed way to support our collective resilience and co-regulation. To work in systems change means to be in it for the long-haul. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be inviting more conversation around the role of rest, joy, and connection in the work. We hope that you’ll share your thoughts and wishes and that together, we can prioritize these needs in the systems change we are working to achieve. Why are we talking about this publicly? We are also choosing to publicize these plans, as we believe flexible work policies should be normalized. We want this not just for ourselves, but for all of you too. We are calling for our friends, partners, businesses, and government agencies to join us in transforming our work culture and norms because our collective wellbeing is intimately connected. We invite you to be in conversation with us about this. Share your immediate thoughts and reactions to this with us – both the glimmers of possibility and the tensions. If you’re interested in exploring tools for making this feel possible at your organization or reading the research behind it visit our friends at https://workfour.org/. With love – The Pinnacle Prevention Team
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Transportation impacts many aspects of day-to-day life. It not only helps us get where we need to go, it also impacts cost of living, environmental quality, and health. Public transportation options such as bus, light rail, streetcar, and paratransit provide affordable mobility options that allow individuals to get to work or school as well as access basic needs such as health care, food, and recreation. This is especially true for those that do not own a car or those that are physically impaired or immobile. The question is, how well does our public transportation system work for people? The Mesa Public Transit Project was a community engagement effort led by Pinnacle Prevention in 2023 to better inform transit, land use, and development decisions in the City of Mesa, however, the project’s findings can also benefit other parts of the greater Phoenix region. Partnership with A New Leaf, Aster Aging, Concordia Charter School, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, and Native health as well as ten members of the Mesa community which comprised a community advisory board called “The Transit Team” helped shape the engagement process. Through key stakeholder interviews and a series of seven community conversations, we spoke with over 70 Mesa residents about their experiences moving around Mesa and other parts of the Valley. What did we find out?
What can individuals and organizations do?
Valley Metro is working hard with city governments to increase transit ridership levels, which have fallen since the pandemic. Transit professionals also recognize the need to improve access, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. The voices and experiences of your organization and its clients matter.
Pinnacle Prevention is inviting elders to share a special recipe for our Arizona Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program cook book! You can share your recipe with Persephonie Devereaux, our outreach specialist, via email or phone call: [email protected], (661) 221-2896. We will send contributors a $25 VISA gift card. Pinnacle Prevention has received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to improve our Arizona Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP). We are using some of these funds to create a cook book, comprised of Arizona seniors’ special recipes, which we will distribute for free to SFMNP participants. This initiative is the result of feedback we’ve received from SFMNP participants over past years: they’ve expressed desire for inspiration on how to utilize the locally-grown produce they’ve purchased with their SFMNP coupons at participating vendor locations. About the USDA grant: The United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) has awarded AZ Senior FMNP $1.1 million over the next two years to expand service area and implement program improvements, including stipends for Senior FMNP host locations, technology improvements, CSA supplies and distribution reimbursements, outreach and marketing initiatives, and transportation solutions. Pinnacle Prevention is excited to collaborate with AZ's Department of Economic Security to steward nearly 2X the food dollars, and we commend FNS for its great flexibility in funding. You can read the USDA FNS press release here.
A couple months ago we were pleased to make available two infrastructure and equipment grants of up to $12,000 to Arizona-based farmers and ranchers. We were excited and overwhelmed to receive over 60 great applications. Today we want to share with you the grant awardees: The Nalwoodi Denzhone Community and The Coldwater Coffeehouse and Bakery. Nalwoodi Denzhone Community is a Non-Profit Organization providing revitalization services to the San Carlos Apache children and families through creative and life transforming projects on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Here's something they wanted to share: NDC is extremely grateful for this opportunity to partner with Pinnacle Prevention through the Seeds to Grow Grant. We have been waiting for the opportunity to launch our Regenerative Farming Program and are excited to be given this chance. Our diverse but small team of dedicated staff is eager to bring this project to life because of the great impact it could have: to build a sustainable, healthy community that is full of life for many generations to come. Thank you, Pinnacle Prevention!" The Coldwater Coffeehouse and Bakery is a cooperatively owned farm-to-table cafe in Old Town Avondale. Here's what they told us after finding out they were one of the recipients: Being awarded the Seeds to Grow grant is a huge confirmation of this project our worker-owned cooperative has embarked upon. Since 2018 we have struggled to farm 1/4 acre with hand tools. While the experience has presented us with an in incredible opportunity to learn, vision-build and develop a love for the land under our stewardship, it has also showed us how impossible it is to feed our community, just a few of us working so hard for so little harvest in return. The equipment we will purchase with this grant facilitates three major aspects of our work (bed prep, seeding and harvesting) but most importantly, it allows us to bring more land into production and through that process encourages our group to grow in number, nurturing community members into active members of the co-op. Thank you Pinnacle Prevention for the opportunity you have given us, and our community! Liv Brashears AZ Farmers Market Nutrition Coordinator  At my public bilingual school growing up, one of the biggest celebrations of the year was César Chavez Day. The entire K-8 school – every student, teacher, staff member, and even parents – came to our César Chavez Assembly. We spent weeks preparing for the event, and everyone had different roles to contribute to the day of remembrance for the líder de los campesinos. First graders worked on acrostic poems, coming up with tributes to Chavez’s life starting with each letter to spell out his full name. Fifth graders performed on their recorders De Colores, a classic folk song that was sung at the United Farm Workers union meetings. Middle schoolers decorated large banners with the movement’s symbols and cries, which were hung up across the school. They re-created the red flags with the stark black eagle and painted posters that read ‘¡Huelga!’ ‘¡Viva la Causa!’ and ‘¡Sí se puede!’. Our music teacher led us in singing El Corrido de Cesar Chavez, ¡Viva Dolores Huerta!, and Nosotros Venceremos (We Shall Overcome). Even in his brilliance as a grassroots community organizer, Chavez did not lead alone. I want to fully recognize two pivotal co-organizers in the movement for farmworkers rights, Dolores Huerta and Larry Itliong. The Filipino-American story has been largely erased from the farmworkers narrative, but let us uplift the immeasurable contributions of radical labor activist Larry Itliong. In 1965, Filipinos were the first to walk out of the fields and launch the now-famous Delano Grape Strike. At the meetings of the predominantly Filipino Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, led by Itliong, they practiced the Unity Clap and cried in Tagalog the phrase Isang bagsak – when one falls we all fall. Dolores Huerta came and spoke at my school’s Cesar Chavez Assembly when I was in the first grade. I wish I could better remember her words from that day, but I remember her impact. I felt the excitement that reverberated through my schools halls that Huerta, a conspirator for justice for those exploited, was coming to speak to us. We had just concluded singing the lyrics that Huerta is the pride of the people, and I understood that our heroes are not just in the past, and that their living legacies and La causa have spanned generations. In a few weeks on April 10th, we will celebrate Huerta in her own much-deserved day of honor. Her decades of activism have reached far beyond farmworkers rights, including fighting for women’s rights, immigrants’ rights, and advocating tirelessly to lift people out of poverty. As I reflect on the lives of Chavez, Huerta, and Itliong, the impact is wide. It feels even more profound when we consider that the farmworkers movement was not carried out entirely by one charismatic organizer, but was sustained by a multi-racial, cross generational, multi-lingual movement with deeps roots in faith and music. Yet even in their combined fortitude organizing against the powerful landowners of California’s Central Valley (and beyond), Chavez, Huerta, and Itliong were humans who did not always agree about the right strategies that would ultimately bring fair wages, union contracts, and safe working conditions to long-maltreated farmworkers. Fast forward to today, here’s what we cannot disagree on: those directly impacted by systemic injustices have the solutions and it is imperative that the rest of us follow their leadership. Collectively at Pinnacle Prevention, an organization working to advance food justice, we commit to continually centering the lived experiences of our neighbors who are most marginalized by the current food system. The work continues. Luckily, Dolores Huerta has already coined a salient slogan for perseverance: Sí se puede, compañeros. References: Pawel, M. (2015). The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography (Reprint ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. Pasion, A. (2020, October 25). From “Isang Bagsak” To #FilipinxForBlackLives, Filipino Identity Has Always Been Political. One Down. https://www.one-down.com/articles/from-isang-bagsak-to-filipinxforblacklives-filipino-identity-has-always-been-political For readers to engage further: Support: The United Farm Workers’ active campaigns Watch: A Song for Cesar in theatres in Scottsdale and Tucson March 2022. Watch: “Dolores” Documentary Film | Dolores Huerta Foundation Read: A Journey for Justice: the Life of Larry Itliong   This fall, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) teamed up with farmers from the Prescott Farmers Market, Yavapai County SNAP-Ed, and Manzanita Outreach to bring locally grown produce directly to seniors in the Verde Valley. This partnership was spurred into action with leftover SFMNP funds in order to serve the community of seniors in Cottonwood. Many local advocates stepped right up and were willing to take on some extra responsibility to make this happen. These key advocates include Rebecca Serratos from the Yavapai County Cooperative Extension Office, Marie Higgins and the Prescott Farmers Market team, Ben Burke from Manzanita Outreach, and of course the Prescott, Chino Valley, and Paulden-area farmers. We’re grateful to Aguiar Farms, Hernandez Farms, SuperNatural Sprouts, and Reyes Farms for collectively producing over $18k worth of produce that went directly to low-income seniors. All farms are paid directly and in full through SFMNP funds. Next time you’re at the Prescott Farmers Market or the Flagstaff Community Market, find these farms and express thanks by purchasing their wonderful varieties of produce. Senior CSAs through SFMNP are special for a few reasons, some of which include the convenience and ease it provides the seniors recipients. We purposefully integrate the senior CSAs into their pre-existing food pick-up routines. In order for this to happen, there are many pieces that takes a team effort behind the scenes: transporting, packing, securing materials, and other logistics. As we’ve just named, it was a whole village that came together in Yavapai County to bring this to fruition. A total of 367 seniors benefitted from $50 worth of fresh fruits and vegetables, either delivered through the Manzanita Outreach home delivery program, or provided alongside seniors picking up their monthly commodities box at the pantry. Contents of the mixed produce bags for the seniors included arugula, kale, beets, tomatoes, radishes, turnips, microgreens, fresh herbs, and more. Burke of Manzanita Outreach emphasized how special it was for seniors to receive fresh greens. He shared that at the food pantry, heartier vegetables are easier to come by, but to give out fresh, high-quality greens grown in county was a true treat. 
Arizona Recreation, Trails, & Historic
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Visit Arizona Initiative – Outdoor Recreation Grant
The Arizona Office of Tourism has $8 million available until Oct. 15, 2021 as part of the $100 million Visit Arizona Initiative to support marketing, sustainability efforts, and infrastructure improvements for outdoor recreation. Applicants must describe how their effort responds to the negative impacts of the pandemic. Read more and apply soon here: https://tourism.az.gov/visit-arizona-outdoor-recreation-revitalization-grant/ |
State Parks Heritage Fund
At the end of the 2021 Arizona State Legislative session, funding was officially restored to the State Parks Heritage Fund after 11 years without funding since the great recession. The one-time funding came in the form of $5 million from the state general fund and $5 million of federal relief dollars. The State Parks Heritage Fund provides grant opportunities for non-motorized trails, outdoor environmental education, local, regional, and state parks, and historic preservation. Applicants can include non-profits, cities, towns, counties, tribal governments, state, federal agencies, and entities that have formed appropriate cooperative agreements. The Fund is officially open and accepting applications on a rolling basis! More details can be found here: https://www.azstateparks.com/grants/ |
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Grant and
United Food Bank RISE Grant Fall 2021
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To be considered eligible, applicants must be a 501(c)3 nonprofit providing hunger-relief services and have an existing partnership with Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, United Food Bank, or Yuma Community Food Bank. Note that applicants that are partners of United Food Bank can use the same application form to submit a proposal for United Food Bank’s RISE grants, which are not specifically tied to COVID-19 response.
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In the ongoing work of facilitator and organizer adrienne maree brown, she invites us to imagine. Time and again she writes that justice work is science fiction work because activists take on the task of building a future that does not exist yet.
Because if we can’t imagine that future – personally or collectively – how will we make it a reality?
Truthfully, it can be hard to picture a world without hunger or poverty. When I first tried to, I could only come up with the desire to dismantle existing systems of violence: capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. And don’t get me wrong, we should all be and stay committed to dismantling those systems. But in that exercise, it was clear that I had little practice training my imaginative muscles.
So with deeper reflection, my dream for us is to live in a world that is treated with abundance, where land, power, and resources are returned to indigenous peoples’ stewardship, where accountability is so high that everyone answers to community needs, and where conflict is embraced with maturity, love, and mutual understanding. The only surviving structures are those that protect, uplift and heal.
In the anti-hunger advocacy world, we know that people who are forced to face food insecurity cannot wait for the policy changes (or better yet, the revolution) that promise to end hunger one day. Hungry people need to be fed, and not just with any food. In line with naming the possibilities we dare to imagine, those foods need to be culturally appropriate and fully nourishing to the body and soul. Agency in food choice has to be restored. And there should be robust opportunities to consume locally sourced food as well as space to build a healthy relationship to food. I find tremendous hope in working from a place not of wishing that were true, but in every small way possible practicing it until it is true.
Let’s live and work wholeheartedly into the possibilities of our most radical dreams.
Check out adrienne maree brown’s books and her blog for more wisdom & inspiration.
Liv Brashears
Farmers Market Nutrition Programs Coordinator
Because if we can’t imagine that future – personally or collectively – how will we make it a reality?
Truthfully, it can be hard to picture a world without hunger or poverty. When I first tried to, I could only come up with the desire to dismantle existing systems of violence: capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. And don’t get me wrong, we should all be and stay committed to dismantling those systems. But in that exercise, it was clear that I had little practice training my imaginative muscles.
So with deeper reflection, my dream for us is to live in a world that is treated with abundance, where land, power, and resources are returned to indigenous peoples’ stewardship, where accountability is so high that everyone answers to community needs, and where conflict is embraced with maturity, love, and mutual understanding. The only surviving structures are those that protect, uplift and heal.
In the anti-hunger advocacy world, we know that people who are forced to face food insecurity cannot wait for the policy changes (or better yet, the revolution) that promise to end hunger one day. Hungry people need to be fed, and not just with any food. In line with naming the possibilities we dare to imagine, those foods need to be culturally appropriate and fully nourishing to the body and soul. Agency in food choice has to be restored. And there should be robust opportunities to consume locally sourced food as well as space to build a healthy relationship to food. I find tremendous hope in working from a place not of wishing that were true, but in every small way possible practicing it until it is true.
Let’s live and work wholeheartedly into the possibilities of our most radical dreams.
Check out adrienne maree brown’s books and her blog for more wisdom & inspiration.
Liv Brashears
Farmers Market Nutrition Programs Coordinator
Can you imagine doing all the work for a small scale, organic farm by hand? We can’t either, which is why we are overjoyed to announce our 2021 Seeds to Grow Grant Recipient, Blooming Reed Farm of Paulden, Arizona!
Blooming Reed farmers Juan and Keeton Aguiar provide Arizonans with locally grown organic vegetables, nutritious herbs, and breathtakingly beautiful flowers with the goal of minimizing the disturbance to the soil. Sustainable agriculture can be very labor-intensive, but with the appropriate equipment, farmers can maximize profits by increasing crop yields, improving crop quality, and reducing expenses.
We’d like to give special thanks to Erich Shultz of Steadfast Farm for his technical support and expertise in choosing the appropriate agricultural equipment and tools for the location. He provides unwavering support to the regional farmers of our Arizona food system, and he played a big part in making this happen. We would also like to thank Whole Foods for helping to support us in this initiative.
Seeds to Grow is an annual funding opportunity that supports the heart of our food system with seed funding for farm equipment and essentials for Arizona's small farmers. For more information on Seeds to Grow, visit pinnacleprevention.org
Blooming Reed farmers Juan and Keeton Aguiar provide Arizonans with locally grown organic vegetables, nutritious herbs, and breathtakingly beautiful flowers with the goal of minimizing the disturbance to the soil. Sustainable agriculture can be very labor-intensive, but with the appropriate equipment, farmers can maximize profits by increasing crop yields, improving crop quality, and reducing expenses.
We’d like to give special thanks to Erich Shultz of Steadfast Farm for his technical support and expertise in choosing the appropriate agricultural equipment and tools for the location. He provides unwavering support to the regional farmers of our Arizona food system, and he played a big part in making this happen. We would also like to thank Whole Foods for helping to support us in this initiative.
Seeds to Grow is an annual funding opportunity that supports the heart of our food system with seed funding for farm equipment and essentials for Arizona's small farmers. For more information on Seeds to Grow, visit pinnacleprevention.org
'Not Racist' Is Not Enough: Putting In The Work To Be Anti-Racist - Eric Deggans When someone says change is hard…believe them.
Here we are, more than a year into our commitment as an organization to center anti-racism and equity in our practice. We’ve been bringing these hard conversations and questions into our work by asking ourselves and our partners to explore how our own identities work to uphold these power structures. Simply, self and system analysis, with the acknowledgment that this alone is not enough, and with increased humility, hard changes, power shifts and action should follow. Sounds good, right?
Well, if it were that easy….
Here we are today, ready, and willing to share some honest reflections and lessons learned…thus far. We say thus far because we have much to do to continue to challenge our own perceptions, norms, and white conditioning. The reality is that this kind of work is lifelong, never-ending, often pain-staking slow…and full of humanness…errors, and hardship.
Change is hard. We all know this. People will say this, agree to this, and sign up for the thought of change…in theory. The reality? That’s when things get tricky. And, if I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s even possible to truly, really, actually, understand just how messy diving into this work can be, even when theoretically you get that it is supposed to be tough.
The truth is, most of us avoid it or distract ourselves from the hard realities of this discomfort by focusing on surface-level work. Easy projects that keep us busy, but do not actually touch the hard root of the center. When we push away from the fluff toward reality (uh ourselves), well, the reactions in yourself and others can be surprising. In short, it is disruptive.
So, why are we writing this? We want to acknowledge that talking about doing this work can be performative, and in essence, is virtue signaling. But, we wanted to name it for our own network, as peers in this work. We know that there is no way to be “perfect”, but fears of making mistakes often lead to inaction, much like in this article about the Culture of White Supremacy.
Friends, we are not perfect.
We might be sort of screwing this up, but we know we aren’t alone either. We hope to normalize talking about the reality of systems change for organizations like ours, and those working in public health and service fields. The more we talk, the more who join, will help grow the critical mass. There is no way to dismantle this system without facing this mess. We are hoping that by talking about it, we can help strengthen our own sense of community, to help us all tackle ourselves. It’s easier when you know you’re not alone.
So, for those wanting to join this work of self-analysis, growth, and dismantling of power structures in the very systems they work in, here is what we have to share so far:
Friends, when you take this work to your institution. Expect emotions. Challenge yourself by examining the concepts of White Tears and White Fragility. Expect them to show up in yourself and others. There is no way to plan for what will come up, so preparing support for those in need may be warranted.
Our mentors have taught us that the biggest portion of this work is the work we do within ourselves. The reality of that is it brings up a lot. Some of that needs support outside of the container you are working in, and other issues might be a signal that we’ll need to work on our relationships with each other. Patience, time, trust, and awareness of it will help get to the real issues.
We hope you’ll walk along with us.
Jaclyn Chamberlain, MPH, RDN, CSP
Director of Community Engagement, Pinnacle Prevention
Join our community on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Here we are, more than a year into our commitment as an organization to center anti-racism and equity in our practice. We’ve been bringing these hard conversations and questions into our work by asking ourselves and our partners to explore how our own identities work to uphold these power structures. Simply, self and system analysis, with the acknowledgment that this alone is not enough, and with increased humility, hard changes, power shifts and action should follow. Sounds good, right?
Well, if it were that easy….
Here we are today, ready, and willing to share some honest reflections and lessons learned…thus far. We say thus far because we have much to do to continue to challenge our own perceptions, norms, and white conditioning. The reality is that this kind of work is lifelong, never-ending, often pain-staking slow…and full of humanness…errors, and hardship.
Change is hard. We all know this. People will say this, agree to this, and sign up for the thought of change…in theory. The reality? That’s when things get tricky. And, if I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s even possible to truly, really, actually, understand just how messy diving into this work can be, even when theoretically you get that it is supposed to be tough.
The truth is, most of us avoid it or distract ourselves from the hard realities of this discomfort by focusing on surface-level work. Easy projects that keep us busy, but do not actually touch the hard root of the center. When we push away from the fluff toward reality (uh ourselves), well, the reactions in yourself and others can be surprising. In short, it is disruptive.
So, why are we writing this? We want to acknowledge that talking about doing this work can be performative, and in essence, is virtue signaling. But, we wanted to name it for our own network, as peers in this work. We know that there is no way to be “perfect”, but fears of making mistakes often lead to inaction, much like in this article about the Culture of White Supremacy.
Friends, we are not perfect.
We might be sort of screwing this up, but we know we aren’t alone either. We hope to normalize talking about the reality of systems change for organizations like ours, and those working in public health and service fields. The more we talk, the more who join, will help grow the critical mass. There is no way to dismantle this system without facing this mess. We are hoping that by talking about it, we can help strengthen our own sense of community, to help us all tackle ourselves. It’s easier when you know you’re not alone.
So, for those wanting to join this work of self-analysis, growth, and dismantling of power structures in the very systems they work in, here is what we have to share so far:
Friends, when you take this work to your institution. Expect emotions. Challenge yourself by examining the concepts of White Tears and White Fragility. Expect them to show up in yourself and others. There is no way to plan for what will come up, so preparing support for those in need may be warranted.
Our mentors have taught us that the biggest portion of this work is the work we do within ourselves. The reality of that is it brings up a lot. Some of that needs support outside of the container you are working in, and other issues might be a signal that we’ll need to work on our relationships with each other. Patience, time, trust, and awareness of it will help get to the real issues.
- Don’t Take The Bait
We hope you’ll walk along with us.
Jaclyn Chamberlain, MPH, RDN, CSP
Director of Community Engagement, Pinnacle Prevention
Join our community on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
