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Mental Health & Wellness
SOS
What is Stories of Survival?
Stories of Survival (SOS) project is a community-level mental health project that was created to bring citizens of New Orleans together for healing, supportive dialogue and community building in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. With funding from the Ford Foundation, SOS utilized the ancient practice of Wisdom Circles to create a space for people to talk about their experiences, share their feelings, and collectively envision the future of their community.
Who participates?
Anyone who has been affected by Hurricane Katrina can form a Wisdom Circle among family, friends or other community members with assistance from IWES staff. The power of SOS comes from support of community participants as Dr. Denese Shervington (IWES founder and Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University) facilitates group discussion and residents join together to reflect on the role that each of us can play in the recovery of New Orleans.
Want to know how to get involved?
Stories of Survival (and beyond) Collective Healing after Hurricane Katrina (published 2007) is collection of stories, insights and reflections on Hurricane Katrina from residents who have returned to New Orleans to rebuild their lives and communities. Each story is told in unique of voice of the speaker and paints a specific picture of New Orleans—its history, its culture and its prospects for recovery.
Books can be purchased online at: http://www.lulu.com/content/1318303 and proceeds support IWES mental health and wellness programs)
Residents interested in creating a Wisdom Circle can contact IWES for more information
Community groups, universities, and wellness centers can invite IWES to share information on Wisdom Circles and how to use them
Please contact an IWES staff member to ask a question, share your thoughts, or give us feedback!
CHER
What is the Community Healing Education & Recovery?
In the immediate aftermath Hurricane Katrina, IWES recognized that emotional health needed to be the forefront of all human recovery efforts. CHER was created two years after the disaster because few mental health services provide collective spaces for healing, sharing and community action. After piloting the SOS program in 2006, IWES’s community partners and staff recognized the need to develop collective recovery programs built on a community wellness model rather focusing only the symptoms of mental illness.
Who participates?
CHER began with a retreat for 10 leaders from a cross-section of organizations to give people time for introspection, reflection, and information on how to approach mental health recovery in the populations that they serve. Mental health and wellness are fundamental to all aspects of community rebuilding, and participants in CHER includes youth groups, community organizers, outreach workers, educational leaders, environmental justice activists, local artists and professionals working on economic development and public health issues.
Want to know how to get involved?
CHER is a training and education program on mental health and wellness, and a community action project.
Community leaders interested in receiving this training and sharing the information with others can join the CHER collective
Organizations can have this information presented to their clients, employees or populations that they serve
Residents can participate in community action events and wellness activities
Have other ideas or want more information on CHER? Please contact an IWES staff member to ask a question, share your thoughts, or give us feedback!
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