Time to recharge

With May being the start of Mental Health Awareness Month, we wanted to update y’all on our hiatus! 

We took a step back and restructured our priorities internally. While we loved all of the motion and fast paced energy, it wasn’t sustainable, and burnout was inevitable. 

We are a mental health and trauma organization and to not value our own mental health would be a disservice to our mission.

While we’ve been quiet we’ve still made progress and refocused on what our next steps are. While we’re not ready to publicly share the big project we’re working on we still wanted to provide some updates to the events we’ve hosted, cohosted, or partook in these last few months!

We held our last Resource Giveaway of 2022 in collaboration with Kampaign for Change! We were able to collectively distribute 20+ Holiday Hygiene Packs & Wool Knits, provide Hot Meals and Warm Clothes to Unhoused, and collected 10 bags of trash and debris!

In collaboration and with a multitude of organizations and agencies YHC and others were able to give out OVER 450 GIFTS to families at the Pullman apartments for the Holidays! It’s critical we acknowledge all the help we received so Thank you to the following;

• Cubpack 645 for 125 wrapped presents;

• Toys for Tots and the Marines for the initial 160 gifts who came back with BOXES full of toys;

• Sequential who donated 25 $50 gift cards, 25 $20 movie passes, 25 $15 McDonald's gift cards;

• The Richmond Police Department who adopted four families and Richmond fire for showing up and showing out like you always do;

• Community Village who provided food;

• Steve from Desk for Kids who has made over 200 desk for families in need over the course of the pandemic;

• Urban tilt for 70 packages for families and all those warrior T-shirts and Derrick for bringing all the Cal gear.

• Guardians of Justice, Pullman apartments manager, Mr. Kenneth, and every other volunteer who made that day amazing for the kids!

In addition to the support from local community organizations, we have to give a huge thank you to the Black Student Union at Vanden high school for gathering supplies for our unhoused and at risk youth for the holiday season! We are so grateful to have the young people show up like they do!

Thanks to a grant and in partnership with Richmond YSB (Youth Service Bureau), YHC collaborated to do mural painting and gardening at the Parchester Community Center.

Additionally our founder spoke with the youth of Richmond YSB (Youth Service Bureau) about the importance of nonprofits and inspiring the kids to dream about what nonprofit they could create too.

Now that May is here it’s the perfect time to relaunch our summer internship! Please check the link below for more information!

Let's Catch Up!

WE’VE BEEN BUSY!

Happy December! We know we’ve been quiet lately but doesn’t mean we haven’t been working! We’ve done quite a bit since our last newsletter in May, let's recap!

YHC's Capitol visit

A group of our summer interns got the chance to speak to several Assembly member Bauer-Kahan, Wilson, and Rubio and Assembly member Rivas's staff Julio Mendez about their Policy for Education Progress (P.E.P) reports.

They advocated for policy on issues they are passionate about related to mental health and trauma! Thank you to all the Assembly Members and Staffers that took the time to meet with us! YHC can't wait for the next visit to the Capitol!

Maria shared on her experience with Assembly member Rubio (who was also formerly undocumented herself and shared her story about being deported with us) as a DACA student and advocating for more funding and access to resources for other DACA recipients. 

Rimsha shared her story about being called a terrorist in school and the impact it had on her mentally. She advocated for more education on various religions and highlighted the importance of respecting and to make EID a day off for schools with Assembly member Wilson.  Kat shared POC and Black students experiences of profiling on campus and advocated on alternatives to policing on CSU and UC campuses! 

Third Annual Strategic Planning Retreat

In September we held our third Annual Strategic Planning Retreat in Southern California over Labor Day weekend.

We had 7 volunteer staff, 1 former volunteer staff via zoom, 2 board members plus our first YHC baby (Miss Sophia) join us for our 3 day retreat!

It was incredibly productive and critical for our upcoming restructure and rebrand! I'm so excited for all the changes and plans we have to come next year and looking forward to seeing new people join our community!

After working we enjoyed bonding activities at the amazing Poppy and Seed resturant and even got to go to the movies since our power was cut for over half a day, but even with technical difficulties we were all smiles and got work done!

Community Resource Fair and Cleanup

We co-hosted THREE more Unhoused Resource Fairs to support the community with our amazing community partners Kampaign for Change and Caleb's Way!

We had so many incredible volunteers come out, and we provided resources, toiletries, hot food, and cleaned up their homes.

We're always looking for more supporters and volunteers!

Our next Resource Fair will be at the Suisun Marina (800 Kellogg St, Suisun City, CA 94585) on December 17th from 10am to 12pm!

Co-hosted the Harvest Fest

It was a beautiful afternoon full of sunshine and smiles as we celebrated the start of Fall with a Harvest Fest!

It's always a great time partnering with Community service providers and leaders in West County (Contra Costa County)!

UPDATES

We’ve been quiet because we’re restructuring and going to come back even stronger later next year when we re-launch and reintroduce ourselves.

We are changing quite a bit internally and some of those changes are minor and some not as much. 

In a time when people are tired of talking through a screen we’re ensuring we’re reaching those who need us most in person whenever we can, which means we will have a less online presence.

Of course we will be back to our content online to ensure we’re accessible but right now our work is focused on in person events, activities, etc.

We have a lot coming up and can't wait to share!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Internship, Art competition, and more!

WE MADE AN IMPACT!!

Happy end of Quarter 1! We accomplished a lot at YHC! Before we recap how the first four months of the year went, check out some of our upcoming events!

Internship program apps close on the 11th!

We announced our application for our summer 2022 internship! We are looking for young, highly motivated individuals in high school/college interested in the following:

• 💛 Community organizing

• 💛 Political engagement

• 💛 Meeting with elected officials

• 💛 Leadership development

• 💛 Toast masters/public speaking

• 💛 Advocacy/policy training

• 💛 Digital Marketing/E-advocacy

Our 12 week program starts on June 6th & ends August 26th. Both OTG (on the ground) & virtual internship options will be available to accommodate out of state/international applicants.

Only individuals located in Solano, Napa, and Contra Costa County in California will be considered for the on the ground team. Applications will be released no later than April 11th, & will close by May 11th. Interviews will be conducted May 12th-25th.
If you have any other questions, please email yellowheartcommittee@gmail.com

Dear Latino Parents Art Exhibition

Our Dear Latino Parents art exhibition officially launched! Check out the flyer for more details!

We are looking for Latino identifying artists or creatives to submit art answering the prompt: What do I want my latino parents to know about my mental health! Your art can be in any medium but must be submitted in 2D form to be shared!

ALL SKILL LEVELS ARE WELCOMED and CASH PRIZE FOR TOP 4 CREATIVES!

Here is the link to learn more: https://yellowheartcommittee.org/artists-dear-latino-parents

This is all part of our three part series for our Dear Latino Parents campaign!

We met with the iconic Dolores Huerta and will be releasing the discussion on May 27th along with the art exhibition.

We also held an amazing Dear Latino Parts art healing workshop with Adriana Alejo! The kids at Greenwood academy in Richmond (Thanks to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Contra Costa for partnering) had a blast finding beauty in their surroundings and creating art from everyday items!

Recap of Q1

Resource Giveaways for the unhoused

We’ve co-hosted three Resource Giveaways and creek cleanup’s for the unhoused with Kampaign for Change!

Incredibly big shout out to Vanden High schools FNL club for being such a huge supporter of the Giveaways!

Richmond Egg Hunt

We also held an Egg hunt for North Richmond youth in collaboration with Steve from Desk for Kids, Boys & Girls Clubs of Contra Costa, Guardians of Justice, and Richmond Fire Department.

The kids got an amazing surprise from the Easter Bunny along with a fast paced egg hunt and some gifts!

We tabled events!

Also had some impactful meetings with individuals such as the staff of California Senator Alex Padilla!

FIRST Resource Giveaway of 2021

Today was the FIRST Yellow Heart Committee event of the year in collaboration with The Real Kampaign. 

This morning we had over 35 volunteers (which included some of the unhoused) come out to hand out blankets, food, hygiene kits, and resources for the unhoused near Ledge wood Creek in Fairfield! Additionally, while the resources were being distributed we did a creek clean up and it looks absolutely amazing!

HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS especially the Boys Scouts Troop 645, William and Chase, who’s 12 years old and worked hard to get the sleeping bags!

It was truly remarkable to see so many different community members, including the ones who call Ledgewood Creek home do the work to beautify the area and help our environment.

Can’t wait for our future events, we have soooo much planned, and please let me know if you’d like to be involved!

OUR IMPACT IN 2021

2021 for Yellow Heart Committee has been a testament to positive impact, as we look back at the the many achievements we've shared over the past year. Join us in taking a look back on our work as we get excited for everything coming later this year! 

A Year of Achievements 

Finishing Strong (2020-2021)

• Yellow Heart Committee held over 13 various community and policy advocacy events bringing in over 5,000 viewers and attendees.

• YHC coordinated and cultivated 23 partnerships for the purpose of executing virtual events with major organizations such as TimesUp, The Family Justice Center,  and the Harvard COVID-19 taskforce.

A Year of Love (2021)

• Yellow Heart Committee proposed a bill to the California legislature for the formation of a Sexual and Domestic Violence Task Force demanding an expansion on consent education, centralized sexual assault resources, and research on violence against people of color with an emphasis on Black and Indigenous people.

• Secured a partnership with the Family Justice Center but also secured a physical location at the Concord Family Justice Center. 

• Received our first grant on behalf of Vice Mayor of Antioch, California for the excellent work we did for the city of Antioch Teen Dating Violence awareness month campaign. 

• Hosted a Leaders Link Up on Women’s Success featuring Oscar Committee member, Dr. Bobbi Banks and former Congressperson Katie Hill.

• Officially signed for our first office space.

• Met with over 44 elected officials ranging from local, state, and federal levels of government to discuss and educate on the importance of advocating for survivors of trauma.

• Grew our organization to 42 volunteers across all teams and projects.
  Held over 20 group counseling sessions serving over 30 unhoused individuals from City Church Fairfield.

• Had our first internship and onboard 13 interns with over half returning to join the team full time.

• Held our strategic planning retreat in Denver, Colorado with nine team members growing from our previous six that joined the 2020 retreat in Washington D.C..

• Hosted three Holiday Hubs of Healing Resource Fairs for over 120 youth in the California Bay Area, providing them with gifts, resources, and healing workshops.

• Led a subcommittee hearing at the California State Capitol in partnership with the Chair of the Banking and Finance Committee Assemblymember Tim Grayson on Streamlining Resources for Survivors of trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Coordinated three desk giveaways in Richmond, California providing desk for over 50 youth with the support of Steve from Desk for Kids.

Read More

COMMUNITY PULSES

We launched our Community Pulses, local events with an emphasis of community amplifications, which included our 'Dear Latino Parents' program, our curriculum development team, and app developers! 

Read more about it on our website: https://yellowheartcommittee.org/community-pulses-2

HUBS OF HEALING

Yellow Heart Committee was at the center of many in person events through our Hubs of Healing program ranging from backpack supply giveaways, resources fairs, field trips and more for our young community members! Bringing communities together in solidarity and support is at the core of our work.

Keep Reading

UPCOMING EVENTS

Our next event will be this Sunday January 29th 2022 in Fairfield, California for our Resource Giveaway to support our unhoused community members. 

Of course, we have many more important events scheduled for this year. Make sure to connect with us on social media to be the first to know how to join. See you there, and have a wonderful 2022!

DONATE

Our first general body meeting of 2022! Special Guest: 1Hundred Years

This past Wednesday, January 19th, we had our first general body meeting of the year with special guest speakers from 1Hundred Years! 

1 Hundred Years is composed of three (3) gentlemen who served a combined 100 years in the California Prison system, we’re collaborating with them as we’re working to get involved with incarcerated youth in juvenile hall through our hubs of healing program. 

They joined us to share their story about their upbringing and experience being incarcerated for over 25+ years! They also discussed the importance of mental health and forgiving yourself. It was incredibly impactful for the members of YHC volunteer staff as they heard their stories of heartbreak and struggle and how they’ve overcome and are committed to helping the community.

Check out 1Hundred Years website to learn more about them and stay tuned for future collaborations!

Holiday Wellness Resource Fairs

Last week we wrapped up our Holiday Wellness Resource Fairs and at this event in Richmond every kid got to choose two gifts , courtesy of Engine 62 from the Richmond fire department, decorate cookies, get a gift from Santa, take pics with the fire truck, and free food! 

Then 10 kids received free handmade desk from Desk for Kids, 10 received $20 gift cards to Old Navy and got to participate in the healing workshop with our CEO N’dea Johnson, and two got raffles bikes!!

All of this was possible because of our amazing volunteers and donors! 

Thank you to everyone who supported us this year! We were able to accomplish so much!

FIRST in person Hubs of Healing

Yesterday we held our FIRST in person healing event in collaboration with Sem Yeto Alternative School and Armijo High school in Fairfield, California.

It was amazing, the students were so engaged and open to sharing!

They discussed common mental health vocabulary, answered questions to different scenarios, learned grounding techniques, and more during the workshop!

Afterwards, the students received $20 gift cards to Old Navy, along with small Christmas gifts. They also were able to decorate ornaments and cookies and have some holiday season fun!

This was the first iteration of our Hubs of healing workshops and were so proud to be able to say it was an absolute SUCCESS!

Thank you to our wonderful community outreach and programming team for putting together an amazing workshop! 

Round two of our Holiday Wellness Resource Fairs in Richmond, California today!

We completed our first direct service! Counseling for the unhoused

YHC would like to give a HUGE thank you to City Church Fairfield and our volunteer counselors! Thank you to Pastor Scott for opening your doors to us and allowing YHC to pilot its first ever counseling for the unhoused part of our Hubs of healing program.

Through this work, our four volunteer social workers led group counseling sessions around a series of topics relating to mental health and trauma. We developed relationships with the community members who participated and learned how to better serve and connect with the community. 

Although out time has ended with City Church, we’re excited to grow and improve as we formally launch our Hubs of Healing series next year! 

Thank you to our social workers (counselors), thank you Pastor Scott, and thank you to the members of City Church for trusting us and allowing us into your homes and lives!

Meeting with community leaders

A message from our CEO:

Excellent meeting today with the principals of Armijo high school and Sem yeto Alternative school in Fairfield California. 

We discussed bringing mental health and trauma curriculum along with the amazing stories of 1Hundred years (Lejon, Patrick, and Dante who all were formerly incarcerated and their three sentences equaled 100 years) to the at risk youth in the city!

Also had a special guest Mike Dunn (CEO from Boys & Girls Club Contra Costa)  join. 

I keep telling y’all we have a lot coming in 2022 and I’m loving the collaborative effort of working with such great organizations and good people!

Fun fact, the principal of Sem Yeto (Mr. Hightower) was also Alexxis and I’s vice principal while we were in high school at Rodriguez! This is full circle moment to now be working with him to bring the services of my organization to his current students.