Hi friends,

It has a been a while since I’ve shared an update, I appreciate you all that have continued to trust in this model and support us monthly. I can’t believe we are almost in the third month of 2025 but I wanted to give a year in review for 2024 and our intentions for this year.

Last January we held a Reparations Clinic and while it was nourishing, there were items taken without consent that made me question how to navigate trust within community. It also challenged my assumption that if we are giving a free offering, people’s actions will reflect the same kindness and generosity that we are cultivating in the space. I was disheartened but I knew we couldn’t let this deter us from continuing to hold space, we just needed to have greater awareness.

Since the clinics take quite a bit of budget, I started to experiment with another format for community wellness…a space for learning theory and being in the practice of healing. Not only was this more budget friendly, but it also allowed the healers in our community to offer a deep dive into their holistic modality, lead a group discussion, for participants to learn something new or deepen their knowledge, and do a group healing session. Our first teach in was on ear acupuncture, we watched Dope is Death, had a discussion, and offered group ear acupuncture. The next one was Astrology 101 with a group sound meditation. 

The following month after the teach in, I found out I was pregnant and needed to tend to my internal world. I didn’t organize clinics for 6 months and during that time I knew that I needed to pass on the role of leading them. It was relieving to find two people who are excited and willing to continue organizing the clinics. The clinics have happened for long enough that it is a template that can live on autonomously in various places. Amidst my transition in leadership, I wrote a document laying out the steps for pre, during, and post planning a clinic which I am happy to share with anyone interested in running their own. 

Before I passed on the baton, I wanted to organize one more clinic. In December, as we were reminded to honor the calling of winter: to go inwards, rest and reflect. Our most recent clinic was hosted at an ancestral healing home called ‘Casa Siento’ in Bedstuy where we had the pleasure of practicing these reminders in community. During every clinic, we are deeply grateful to receive the gifts of the healers; and this previous clinic allowed us to share different healing modalities with our community including Reiki, Thai Massages, Medicine Making, Ear Acupuncture, Sound Healing, and a delicious culturally relevant plant based meal. It’s always a pleasure to receive words of affirmation from our community; and a repeated participant shared that the clinics have sustained, nourished and kept her spirit and mind strong throughout the year. 

This year, we want to be able to pay healers at least the amount we increased to at the last clinic and hold monthly clinics or alternate between teach-ins and clinics on a monthly basis. We truly want to be a sanctuary space where people can count on us to be a space of refuge consistently. We also want to actualize a partnership with NYCHA (section 8) housing community centers and bring the clinics to their residents. It’s important to us that we also can meet people where they are at and introduce tools for healing that they may not be familiar with. 

In order to do this work, we need financial support. Right now, our budget will allow us to hold one more clinic or a couple more teach-ins. If you have the capacity to give more, we would really appreciate that but there is also so much power in peer to peer fundraising. Please invite people in your network to become monthly or one time supporters. If you know of any grants that we should apply to, please share them. As I enter into this next phase of my journey, I would love to leave my role as the clinic organizer knowing that it will be able to continue being sustainable. We are so grateful to provide these healing spaces for our community to receive the healing they desire and deserve and want to thank you for honoring the value of this work.

In common-unity,
Ebony