"We don’t heal in isolation,
but in community."
Community Healing
For many, healing is the work of individuals and institutions (think health care and mental health), but is not the domain of communities. And yet, the power of communities to create and facilitate well-being or distress is far greater than that of any individual or institution. Intuitively we know this, that community is a multiplier of both healing and harm. Afterall, “we don’t heal in isolation, but in community.” It’s also equally true that we don’t get hurt in isolation, but in community. InPower’s efforts to advance community healing arise from this understanding.
We conduct healing practices, rituals, programs and events in community settings and neighborhoods where our experience of personal, ancestral, cultural, and ecological trauma is the greatest. Yet, these are also the natural habitats for our individual and collective repair, recovery and renewal. It’s in these spaces that we have the potential to be our most resilient, because it’s here that our relationships are the thickest and our resources are the most concentrated. These settings are also where we partner with community members, stakeholders and leaders to make potent “medicines” that can help our peoples become more healthy, vibrant and well.
Led by our core team and Black Healers Collective, InPower has three, long-term community healing initiatives that we offer in partnership with community changemakers and healers. They include our mobile Healing House, Leading Liberation Retreat Series, and Balm: Cultural Arts & Healing Residency Program.